Sword Art Online: Final Take
by empty265
Summary: WARNING: SYSTEM EXCEPTION, ANOMALY DETECTED... The words that Kayaba's console displayed at it began the proper run of SAO - due to a 'harmless' change that his assistant made... Or was it something else? Now with fragmented visions of the 'past', new goals and responsibilities... what will Kirito do? AU reboot with OC.
1. Prologue - Endgame

**Prologue - Endgame**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

Aincrad Standard Date: [unknown]

Aincrad Standard Time: [unknown]

Location: [unknown]

Players Alive: [unknown]

Game Status: Running...

Kirito stood with both of his blades drawn, ready to strike at soon as the countdown reached zero. Opposite stood Heathcliff... no, Kayaba Akihiko was his real name, creator of the death game named SAO and final boss that stood in the path to freedom.

As the countdown reached the last seconds, time has all but stopped for the two that will plunge into an all-or-nothing duel to the death. "3...2...1... 0"

In an instant Kirito closes the 10m gap and slashes at Kayaba with "Double Circular", quickly dashing sideways once the skill finishes - he knew all too well that he was challenging the creator of his [Dual Blades] skill-tree, and that any system-assisted attack would be futile. As expected Heathcliff's shield parried both swords with ease, and his holy sword stabs past Kirito's head by mere centimeters. The leader of the strongest SAO guild glances at Kirito, and flashes a knowing grin as he sends Kirito's body flying away with his shield. With his unique skill [Holy Sword], there needs to be no distinction between defense and offence, both shield and sword can tear apart the essence of his enemy.

Regaining his balance, Kirito does a back-flip and quickly jumps even further once he contacts the ground, leaving a small dust cloud. That in turn is dispersed as Heathcliff bolts through the smoke screen with a lethal [Vorpal Strike] , a blazing red lightning cutting through the position where Kirito was standing just a moment ago.

Not missing the opening, Kirito rushes in and sends a quick stab with his swords, exploiting the post-skill cooldown that not even the game's creator could avoid. Wary about charging too deep and opening himself for counterattacks, Kirito's [Dark Repulsor] barely cuts Heathcliff's armor before it is parried by the [Liberator]. Using the momentum to his advantage, Kirito goes into a spin and smashes Heathcliff's incoming shield with both swords together reminiscent of a roundhouse kick. The resulting shockwave sends both players sliding backwards several meters, as they prepare for round two.

"I'm impressed Kirito, to be able to match my sword and be able to land a hit on me. I must say that I was correct in picking you to be the owner of the unique skill [Dual Blades]" Kayaba calmly compliments his rival, as his eyes search for any weakness in Kirito's form.

"Shut up! I never asked you to give me any special treatment, and won't forgive you even if you gave me all the skills in the game." Kirito muttered, careful not to let his fury take over him.

"Surely you must understand that you cannot defeat me by yourself, as I can see through your every move. So why did you challenge me?"

"I said SHUT UP!" Kirito stops Kayaba's questions with a quick lunge forward, quickly executing a [Horizontal] with his left, followed by an [Uppercut] with his right. As expected the avatar Heathcliff casually parries both hits, with a slightly amused smile, while preparing to strike Kirito as his [Uppercut] cooldown exposes his body.

Sparks fly suddenly as [Liberator] misses its mark on Kirito's body, its path deflected by Kirito's dark blade executing a [Sonic Leap], Heathcliff barely recovers fast enough to raise his shield against Kirito's [Snake Bite], protecting his [Liberator] as both swords land a total of 4 hits on Heathcliff's shield. Simultaneously, both fighters release a [Serration Wave], unleashing another shockwave signify the end of another bout of their dual.

An instant of surprise surfaced on Kayaba's expression, as he quickly regained composure, he realized that he was not able to predict perfectly Kirito's actions. As his heart regained its rhythm after skipping a beat, Kayaba's mind raced through the possible reasons that Kirito was able to override the rule governing [Sword Skill Cooldown].

"My [Uppercut] was not a sword skill." Kirito quietly stated, sending Kayaba into further disarray. Kicking the ground as hard as he could, Kirito charged Heathcliff's avatar with deadly speed, hoping to exploit this rare chance where the man of legends is caught off-guard.

Unfortunately, Heathcliff's legend is not without warrant, being the man who has never suffered defeat. Assuming a defensive position, Heathcliff's shield and sword became an impermeable wall, blocking Kirito's assault with absolute precision. Although Kirito's surprise attack allowed several attacks to penetrate Heathcliff's defense at the start, not a single clean hit damaged beyond the shield's surface.

"Marvelous! I never expected you to come so far. You have found a way to strengthen yourself beyond the limitation of [Sword Skills]..."

"..."

"I originally planned to have [Magic] as well as [Sword Skills] in the game, but found [Magic] to be convenient, easily creating miracles that did not require the training and discipline needed to perfect [Sword Skills]..."

"..."

"By limiting players to [Sword Skills], there was no way to "play it safe", players had to face fear and death head on, and defeat whatever that stood in between themselves and survival."

"..."

"And yet, you have achieved more, you have discovered the boundaries of the game, and discovered the way to circumvent the flaws of relying on sword skills, overcoming the limits imposed by the system. I applaud you for your achievements, you truly are a worthy adversary."

"..."

"and now... ha!"

Kirito parried Heathcliff's [Liberator] with both swords, and leaped several times backwards before assuming a ready position.

"... I will show you the full extent of my mastery of the system! Come at me, show me all that you have, and defeat me if you can!" The killing intent around Heathcliff suddenly doubled, emanating an aura that was almost visible to the eye. This was no longer the stare of a virtual avatar, but the ominous killing intent of SAO's devil, Kayaba Akihiko. Kirito stiffens all the nerves at his disposal, and prepares for the inevitable sudden-death. He no longer saw the avatar of Heathcliff, but the image of Kayaba Akihiko, welding the blade that could spell his doom.

As Kayaba holds his sword sideways horizontally, he roars.

"DO NOT HOLD BACK! THE GAME ENDS HERE!"

"Yes, it ENDS HERE!"

As Kirito watches Kayaba charge towards him he notices that the speed is on another scale. Startled at the sudden increase of speed, he barely dodges quickly enough to avoid a 1-hit-KO.

[Horizontal] ... missed

_He's faster than before, how is that possible?_

[Holy Sword: Attack] ... blocked

_Not just that, but his hits are heavier, was he holding back all along?_

[Hand-to-Hand: Block and kick] ... dodged

_Ugh... that kick almost got me._

_..._

_I must not give up, even if the system does not allow, I will go even faster!_

_..._

_Stronger... faster... I MUST NOT LOSE!_

The two figures fade into a blur of afterimages, as the black comet collides with the white sun, and shockwave after shockwave echoes in the chamber. Neither side showing any sign of slowing down, the barrage of sword clashes create a symphony of blades in the cathedral of death. The gathered onlookers gaze in amazement, forgetting their grim situation.

[_Don't lose hope Kirito...]_

Kayaba once commented that SAO was a concerto of life and death, and he was definitely on the mark. As the two swordsmen weaves a rhapsody of swords, the group of onlookers silently pray for their hope of salvation. There was no doubt that the fate of the entire SAO population was in the hands of this deadly duet, this was the finale.

All of a sudden, a shield flies into the air, landing a good 20m away from the fight. Kayaba's figure is suddenly exposed with right hand held up high, unable to defend after a deadly [Uppercut]. Nobody knew if Kayaba was actually surprised, but judging from the expression of his avatar, it would seem that the creator just got outdone in his own game.

"Let's end this..." Kirito whispers, as he activates his strongest skill - [Dual Blades - The Eclipse]

_**[NO!]**_

As the bluish white light condenses on Dark Repulsor, a reddish glow appears on Kirito's other -sword. Both swords change into streaks of light, as the deadly 27-hit combo is initiated.

All of a sudden, the soon-to-be defeated creator lets out a wicked grin.

Instead of slashing the body of SAO's creator, Kirito's swords are met with [Liberator]. A feeling of shock and surprise overwhelms Kirito, but he is unable to stop his movements once a sword skill is activated.

"You're not the only one who can fake [Sword Skills]" Kayaba remarks.

Kirito is horrified by the realization of his mistake, both he and Kayaba were well in the red zone, and the next clean hit would be the end. As if time had slowed to a crawl, Kirito was observing in slow motion, as each of his hits were perfectly predicted and blocked by his nemesis. All hope was lost, he would not be able to hurt Kayaba with a predictable skill combo, and the cooldown afterwards would be his execution.

Left, right, upper, slant... (4)

_Why was I so careless, I should have known that it wouldn't be so easy..._

Slant, uppercut, double circular... (8)

_Why do I keep letting down those I care about time and again?_

Stab, slash, left, right, square (16)

_I'm sorry everyone..._

Arc, Snake Bite, Savage Fulcrum (23)

_After coming so far, why did I make the same mistake?_

Slant, Uppercut (25)

_Why did I fail AGAIN?_

Slash

_Wait... what did I mean by "__**AGAIN**__"?!_

_[Off in the distance, a shadowy figure of a young boy grips his fists nervously.]_

"Sayonara, Kirigaya Kazuto"

Vorpal Stri...


	2. Author Introduction and Notes (SPOILERS)

_**Author's Introduction and Notes:**_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

Hello everyone, and thanks for reading the first chapter of my first ever fanfic!

After a decade or so of watching anime/manga, I've finally convinced myself to try writing one myself, and I'm completely blown away at the amount of work it actually takes.

I'd just like to send my thanks to the people that have contributed to the fanfiction scene, since without reading your works I would have never worked up the determination to start my own.

Anyways, onto the important parts, what am I planning to write about:

Basically an AU retelling of SAO, where small changes in the continuity can or may cascade into larger (and hopefully better) things.

As you can tell from the cold open, I'm planning to write a story involving the majority of the main cast. I know I'm playing with fire on my first go, but I hope I don't do too terribly. If I end up getting to where I want to, you may find that the first chapter wasn't what you thought it was.

I'm hoping to stay as close to canon characters as possible, but I'm definitely changing things in (hopefully) subtle way. So far I'm planning to involve mainly the main cast, but I guarantee there will be OC's later on.

If anyone's finds my story worth following, I'd be really grateful if I could get someone to be my beta. It's been over 5 years since I actually wrote anything, so I'm sure to need a great amount of help. Thanks in advance for those interested.

And as usual, hope you'll enjoy the read, and please R&R if you have time!

**-eMpTy**

**Actual Story Notes:**

**Current Floor: 12**

** (Kirito on 8th)**

**Current Alive: 9428**

Sword Skills Interpretation:

Just a quick clarification of the way I'm interpreting the Sword Skills system, since the system was explained a little differently between the three source materials (LN, anime, PSP-game)

1.) Weapon Mastery: Determines the 'Sword Skills' available to the player, once mastery reaches a certain threshold, newer 'Sword Skills' will become available.

2.) Weapon Mastery increases with the frequency of use of the specific type of weapon.

3.) Certain weapons may increase more than one type of mastery... (to a certain point...)

4.) Weapon mastery is NOT required to actually use the weapon, but it is in order to activate 'Sword Skills'. (e.g. Anyone can dual-wield, but until you the mastery, no SS)

5.) Some weapon masteries will have prerequisites (similar to the PSP), but it doesn't prevent the player from using the weapon beforehand.

6.) There is a limit on 'active' skills, but there is no limit on obtainable skill slots.

**Current Original Characters:**

**(Please refer to Chapter 3 for details on OC's, and those in consideration)**

**Aki - Sword + Shield**

Attrib: S45/V30/A20/D5

Level Range: Frontline

Base Floor: ?

Skills: 1H Sword [1H Battleaxe (deleted)]

Parry

Searching

Battle Healing

Light Metal Equipment

Extended Weight Limit

**Mika - Sword + Shield**

Attrib S5/V40/A20/D35

Level Range: Low

Base Floor: 1

Skills: 1H Sword

Parry

Sprinting (for fleeing)

Emergency Recovery

Cooking

Musical Instrument - Guitar / Bass

**(Credits to AstralXYZ for submission)**

**Éclair (F) - 1H Sword, Whip**

Attrib S25/V5/A55/D15

Level Range: High

Base Floor: ?

Skills: 1H Sword

2H Whip (Whips count as 2H weapons as shields get in the way)

Acrobatics

Searching

Hiding

Musical Instrument - Orchestral Strings

**(Credits to KojiroKun for submission)**

**Lancel (M) - 1HSword + Shield**

Attrib S60/V30/A0/D10

Level Range: Clearer

Base Floor: 1

Guild: ALF

Skills: 1H Straight Sword

1H Blunt

2H Axe

Parry

Heavy Metal Equipment

Battle Healing

**(Credits to Takei Daloui for submission)**

**Yunda (M) - 1H Curved Blade, Scythe**

Attrib S5/V0/A90/D5

Level Range: Clearer

Base Floor: 1

Guild: ALF

Skills: 1H Curved Blade

2H Scythe

Searching

Sprinting

Acrobatics

Extended Weight Limit (due to low STR)

**(Credits to Zinmaster24 for submission)**

**Zevela (F) - 2H Scythe, Dagger**

Attrib S50/V0/A45/D5

Level Range: Clearer

Base Floor: ?

Skills: 1H Curved Dagger

2H Scythe

Throwing Weapons

Sprint

Acrobatics

Battle Healing

**(Credits to ** for submission)

**Aixen (M) - One-hand Sword (+ Offhand Sword) * No Sword Skills**

Attrib: S10/V20/A70/D0

Level Range: Clearer

Base Floor ?

Guild: DDA

Skills: 1H Sword

Martial Arts

Sprinting

Light Metal Equipment

Extended Weight Limit

Battle Healing

**(Credits to DuelingFreak for submission)**

**Vendette (M) - 1H Sword (+Offhand Sword) *No Sword Skills**

Attrib: S65/V0/A35/D0

Skill Level: Clearer

Base Floor: ?

Guild: DDA

Skills: 1H Sword

Parry

Searching

Battle Healing

Martial Arts

Acrobatics

**Town Names:**

1: (Mixed) _Starting City; Horunka Village; Medai; Tolbana_

2: (Plains & Fields) _Urbus, Marome_

3: (Rainforest) Sequoia

4:

5:

6:

7: (Forest&Plains) Septum; Tranquil Plains ; Pillars of the Seven Stars;

8: (Dragonspring) _Friben, _Elven Underground - Thieves Base

9: (Desert) Gaia

10: (Plains with Cities) Dixie ; Decium Grande ; Dunes of Despair

11: (Barren) _Taft_, Unis

12: (Snowscape) Polaris

19: (Graveyard) _Ralback, __Hill of the Cross_

20: _Sunshine Forest, _

22_: Coral Village_

27_: Ronbaru_

28: _Plain of Wolves; _Lupus (Credits to Raventus Dracoria)

35_: Mishe; Forest of Wandering_

47: _Floria, Hill of Memories, Forest of Giant Flowers_

48: _Lindas_

49:_ Mujen_

50: (Dark Metropolis) _Algade_

55: _Grandum, Western Mountains_

56: _Pani_

57:_ Marten_

59: _Danac_

61: (High Class) _Salemburg_

74: _Kamdet_

75:_ (_Roman Arena_) Collinia_

_*_According to Sword Art Online - Infinity Moment PSP

76:_ Arksophia _

77: _Toribania_

78:

79:

80:

81:

82:

83:

84:

85:

86:

87:

88:

89:

90:

91:

92:

93:

94:

95:

96:

97:

98:

99:

100: _Scarlet Jade Castle_

**Sword Art Online: Additional Canon Skills:**

**1H Straight Sword:**

Reverse Wheel: 2-hit Counterattack skill

(Alicization: Ch.7.7)

Spinning Shield: Defense Skill

(Alicization: Ch.7.3)

Nova Ascension: Ultimate Skill

(Alicization: Ch.7.16.5)

**Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment Sword Skills:**

1H Straight Sword:

Sonic Leap (AGI): 1-hit Charging AOE

Vorpal Strike (AGI/STR): 3-hit Charging AOE

Slant (STR/AGI): 1-hit (Darkness)

Horizontal (STR/DEX): 1-hit Slash-AOE

Vertical (STR/VIT): 1-hit (Hit Accuracy)

Star Quint Prominence (DEX/STR) 5-hit (+Double ATK)

Horizontal Square: 4-hit (DEF-down)

Vertical Square (DEX/STR): 4-hit (Paralysis)

Meteor Break (VIT/STR): 3-hit heavy

Phantom Rave (DEX/AGI): 6-hit Ultimate Skill

1H Curved Blade:

Fell Crescent (STR): 1-hit Straight AOE (High Accuracy)

Reaver (STR): 2-hit Straight AOE (Bleeding)

Farrant Fullmoon (STR): 4-hit (Stun)

Bear Knock (STR/AGI): 4-hit heavy Straight-AOE (Martial Arts)

Oval Crescent: 3-hit Straight-AOE

Death Creep (STR) 1-hit AOE (Dodge-down)

Lasing Chopper (STR/VIT): 4-hit (High Accuracy)

Melee Smash (AGI/STR) 4-hit heavy (Martial Arts)

Legion Destroyer (STR/VIT) 7-hit Ultimate Skill

1H Rapier:

Linear (DEX): 1-hit Charging AOE

Streak (DEX/AGI): 1-hit Charging AOE

Above (AGI/DEX): 1-hit (Stun)

Rip Ravine (AGI/DEX): 2-hit (Aspd-down)

Over Radiation (DEX/AGI): 10-hit heavy

Sweep (AGI/DEX): 2-hit Slash-AOE (Darkness)

Accel Stub (AGI/DEX): 3-hit heavy

Penetrate (AGI): 3-hit (DEF-down, High Accuracy)

Delta Attack: 3-hit heavy Straight-AOE

Flashing Penetrator (AGI/DEX): 9-hit Ultimate Skill

1H Dagger (All skills have 'High Accuracy'):

Armor Pierce (DEX): 1-hit (DEF-down)

Side Bite (AGI/DEX): 2-hit Slash-AOE

Round Accel (DEX/STR): 2-hit 360-AOE

Cross Edge (DEX): 2-hit (DEX-down)

Rapid Bite (DEX): 2-hit (VIT-down)

Tri-Pierce (DEX): 3-hit (AGI-down)

Fad Edge (DEX/AGI): 4-hit (Bleeding)

Infinity (AGI): 5-hit heavy (STR-down)

Shadow Stitch (DEX/STR) 3-hit (Paralysis)

Eternal Cyclone (DEX/AGI): 4-hit Ultimate Skill

1H Blunt

Silent Blow (STR/DEX): 1-hit AOE (High Accuracy)

Power Strike (STR): 1-hit (Stun)

Upper Swing (VIT/AGI): 2-hit (High Accuracy)

Strike Heart (STR/DEX): 3-hit (SP-down + Stun)

DiastroPhism (VIT/STR): 5-hit (SP-down)

Thrice Blow (STR) 3-hit (No-block, Stun)

Brutal Strike (VIT/AGI): 3-hit (No block)

Trinity Arts (VIT/AGI): 3-hit heavy (Martial Arts)

Variable Blow (VIT/AGI): 8-hit Ultimate

Dual Blades:

End Revolver (AGI): 2-hit 360-AOE

Countless Spike (DEX): 4-hit Straight-AOE

Locus Hexedra (STR/AGI): 7-hit

Depth Impact (STR): 5-hit (DEF-down)

Dead Intersection: 5-hit (ATK-down)

Shine Cicular (AGI/DEX): 15-hit (Darkness)

Crimson Splash (DEX): 8-hit Heavy

Inferno Raid (DEX/STR): 9-hit High Accuracy

Starburst Stream (AGI/DEX): 16-hit Ultimate Skill

The Eclipse (AGI): 27-hit Ultimate Skill

**2H Sword:**

Avalanche (STR/AGI): 1-hit Straight-AOE

Blast (VIT/STR): 2-hit 360-AOE

Tempest (AGI/STR): 1-hit Charging-AOE

Eruption (STR/AGI): 2-hit AOE

Scooped (STR/VIT): 3-hit AOE (self: ATK-UP)

Lightning (DEX/STR): 4-hit AOE (Combo)

Meteor Fall (DEX/STR): 3-hit AOE (Combo)

Fight Blade (AGI/VIT): 6-hit AOE (self: Skill-ATK-up)

Calamity Disaster (AGI/STR): 6-hit Ultimate Skill (self:DEF-up)

**2H Axe:**

Whirlwind (STR/VIT): 2-hit 360-AOE

Grand Destruct (STR/VIT): 1-hit AOE

Smash (VIT/AGI): 1-hit AOE

Lumber Jack (STR): 3-hit (Dodge-down)

Ultimate Breaker (STR): 3-hit (Stun)

Crimson Blood: 3-hit (DEF-down)

Trample Act (VIT/STR): 3-hit super heavy (Low accuracy)

Crescent Avalanche (STR): 7-hit super heavy

Dynamic Violence (VIT/STR): 4-hit Ultimate Skill

**2H Spear:**

Twin Thrust: 2-hit Straight-AOE (Stun)

Helical Twice: 2-hit 360-AOE

Sonic Charge: 1-hit Charge-AOE (Aspd-down)

Fatal Thrust: 1-hit Charge-AOE (Darkness)

Revolve Arts: 5-hit Charge-AOE (ATK-down) (Martial Arts)

Vent Forth: 4-hit Charge-AOE (Dodge-down)

Dancing Spear: 5-hit Charge-AOE (DEF-down)(Martial Arts)

Dimension Stampede: 6-hit Ultimate Skill

**Added Skills:**

[SystemCall]

Verbal System Access

Instead of using the menus to access player menus, players that have met certain conditions can access player commands through verbal chanting. Unfortunately, through extensive testing, it is _believed_ that SAO does not have a spell system installed.

[FormChange / ArmorChange]

Quickly equip different weapon, armor, accessories

Upgraded from [mod:weapon quickchange]

[Flash Step/ Sonic Move / Instant Move / Ground Contraction etc.]

Dash skill – Upgraded from [Sprint]

**Common Attack Skills:**

Stun Slash (AOE-Forward) - 1H - Slash maneuver which cuts and stuns with an air blade

Spinning Demolisher (360-AOE) – 2-hand weapon – Spinning attack lasting for 10s, hitting friendlies and enemies in weapon range. 5s post-attack delay.

**Martial Arts:**

Open Palm Strike (1-hit + Stun) – Martial Arts – Dangerous point-blank technique, where player pulls opponent in with one hand, and performs an open-palm slam against their body. At higher levels, player may choose to send the opponent flying back, or to grab on and continue with additional combos.

Cannon Fist (Charging 1-hit) – Martial Arts – Close Range – Player jolts forward and delivers a straight punch, capable of sending enemy flying.

**1H Blunts:**

Roundhouse (1-hit) - 1H Blunt - Trailing the mace behind, the player spins around and impacts the enemy with the mace in a roundhouse.

Overhead smash (1-heavy-hit) - 1H Blunt - Player lifts the mace overhead, and smashes down on the enemy, heavy hit with longer cooldown.

**1H Curved Blades:**

Crescent Slash (1-hit) - 1H Curved - Basic slash

**Dual Blades (Canon / PSP Infinity Moment):**

**Dual Blades (Original Creations):**

Double Horizontal: Two horizontals using two blades, uses the inertia of spinning the body to increase power and damage, but had slightly longer delay.

Double Vertical: Vertical with both weapons, player jumps upwards and launches attack, utilizing the added weight to increase damage.

Cross Upper: Reverse Slant performed with both weapons, draws arcs opposite to [Double Circular]

Slash Circle: Spinning charge attack; Body spins to increase attack power, and up to 4 sequential slashes attack enemy

Windmill: A forward attack where both blades are spun as the player moves forwards. Total of 6 hits possible.

Tornado: Spinning attack that lunges into the air. AOE within blade's reach, causes enemy to fly into air. (1-hand variant also available, dealing less damage)

Nova Burst: Sideways slash, Uppercut, then followed 2 rotating single-slashes and a double-slash. Finishes with a double circular dual blade X-slash.

Phantom Star: Using a combination of high speed footwork, the player's attack seems to come from five directions. 10-hit combo

**Others:**

Double Swipe (2-hit) - Claw - Simple 2-hit

Flash Sting (Charging 1-hit) - Dagger - Charged dash attack dealing knockback, the longer the charging period, the further the dash range. Player is bounced into the air after the attack, and depending on [Acrobatics], can combine skills or may fall on ground.

**New Items:**

**Orbment:**

**Light (Kirito) - [Attach/Absorb]; [Elemental Damage]**

**Darkness (Kirito) - [Attach/Absorb]; [Elemental Damage]**

**Fire – Currently guarded by [Suzaku, The Phoenix Guardian of Fire]**

**Lightning (Fate) - AGI+X; [Immune: Paralysis]; [10% Paralysizing hit]; [Elemental Damage]**

**Water – Floor 3 – Upper Canopy – Grand Chamber**

**Wind – Floor ?**

**? –**

**Felicia's Claws - Argo - L10 Claws, obtained through unknown sources**

**The Sting - Silica - L10 Dagger, dropped by [The Giant Wasp]**

**Razor Sting – Silica – L18 Dagger – [The Sting] + [Razor Tooth] **

**Bull Slayer - Klein – L18 1H-Curved, LA bonus (F3 – Taurus King)**

** Battleaxe – Agil – L15 Battleaxe, NPC (F10)**

**Gale Fleuret – Asuna - L18 Rapier - [Wind Fleuret] + [Wind Crystal]**

**Battle Hammer – Lisbeth – L15 Hammer, NPC (F10)**

** Hammer – Lisbeth – L20 Hammer, NPC (F10)**

– **Agil – L20 battleaxe, NPC (F10)**

**Queens Knightsword / King's Broadsword - L18 1H Sword (Quest)**

**Sword of the First Light**

**Sword of the Last Dark**

**Sword of the Radiant Day**

**Sword of the Night Sky**

**NPC 'stock' Equipment Series:**

Iron Weapons - L10 weapons

Steel Weapons - L15 weapons

Reinforced Steel Weapons - L20 weapons

Alloy Steel Weapons - L25 weapons

Reinforced Steel Alloy Weapons - L30 weapons

Carbon Steel Weapons - L35 weapons

Forged Steel Weapons - L40 weapons

Carbon Forged Steel Weapons - L45 weapons

Titanium Weapons - L50 weapons

Chromium Titanium Weapons - L55 weapons

Vanadium Titanium Weapons - L60 weapons


	3. Notes - Original Character Submissions

OC Submissions

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

Credits for OC creators go to their creators.

AstralXYZ |

**Eclair - 1H Sword, Whip**

Attrib S25/V5/A55/D15

Level Range: High

Base Floor: ?

Skills: 1H Sword

2H Whip (Whips count as 2H weapons as shields get in the way)

2H Bow (Using the whip as a bow)

Searching

Hiding

Musical Instrument - Violin

Real name: Odaka Shirahime

**Appearance: **

Eclair has long blood red hair reaching to her ankle, split and tied up partway down and at the end. She stands about 155 cm tall, and her equipment tends to be done in dark red, white and yellow. Her eyes are heterochromatic, pale red on her right and yellow left.

**Personality:**

Eclair was a pretty bubbly and airheaded girl who tended to get pretty excited in battle. After SAO turned into a death game, however, she became a lot more cautious and subdued, but otherwise still tried to act like she usually did. She is also quite creative, capable of using weapons in ways nobody else usually thinks of, like sticking two swords in the ground and stringing her whip between them to use as a catapult to fire spears or swords at distant enemies. She can also tie her whip to the grip of a sword and use it like normal, but with enhanced lethality or even try to use it to anchor the opponent to a terrain feature.

**Battle Style:**

Eclair mostly focuses on ranged combat with her whip, but when the going gets rough and she finds herself surrounded, she will usually fight her way out with devastating AoE attacks. She prefers to stay mobile and dodge attacks instead of blocking them, and as such wears light leather armour with no shield. If fighting a particularly difficult opponent, Eclair will do her best to lock down the opponent's movements before moving in for the kill with her swords, sometimes materializing an extra whip (she carries a LOT of extra whips and swords) and using it to strangle the opponent. Her fingers are quick enough to manipulate the SAO menu system with incredible speed in the heat of battle. If in a PvP match, she will occasionally spin and conceal her movements with her long hair to surprise opponents.

**Outside of battle, **

Eclair likes to play the violin and sing to calm herself down after fights. When alone, she usually becomes very quiet and will often cry to herself lamenting her current situation. She is also quite good at writing stories, and often writes short ones for the newspaper. Her favourite food is chocolate, and above all she hates PKers and will go out of her way to take them out.

**Quirk: **

Eclair is practically obsessed with coffee, and will be rarely seen without a cup in hand when sitting down at a cafe. She often comments on the taste of coffee at almost every single cafe on every single floor, and even has a ranking of the top ten best coffees in Aincrad. However, she does have trouble completely waking up in the morning and will be quite ditzy until she gets her morning coffee. She can even tell exactly how high someone's cooking skill is just by sampling coffee made by that someone.

And a bit more additional stuff I missed... (sorry to keep bothering you) If the explosives are a bit iffy you can drop them.

Skills:

- Blade Throwing  
- Alchemy (Mostly used to make explosive concoctions. If she has to fail at making something to make it explosive, she'll fail it on purpose)

Primary Weapons (at what level, you decide):

- Claiomh Solais (1H Sword) - A holy sword with a straight silver blade tapering in at the tip, and a crossguard in the form of a dark red orb with white wings spread out to either side of it. The sword has glowing light strips arranged in an intricate pattern to form the epitaph, and the light strips change colour according to the sword skill being used.

Eclair never throws this sword unless it's extremely urgent. It's kept in a scabbard hanging on her left when not in use.

- Common Swords - Bought in stores. Eclair either throws them or uses them as posts for her Arbalest technique.

- Flash Assailant (Whip) - A whip with a weighted end to make it easier to crack. The handle is black, and the lash starts out white, but fades softly to yellow along its length.

Eclair doesn't use this whip to restrain enemies. It's coiled up on a holder on the back of her skirt when not in use, hidden under her hair.

- Common Whips - Bought in stores. Used to restrain enemies.

- Ruin (2H Spear) - Eclair's most powerful spear, with a black shaft and a blood red, elaborate spearhead stylized to resemble a tribal phoenix. A white cloth is wrapped around the socket connecting the spearhead to the shaft.

This spear is usually fired to begin an assault, and retrieved immediately afterwards. If somehow Eclair loses Claiomh Solais, she'll immediately switch to Ruin.

- Common Spears - Bought in stores. Used as Arbalest ammo, often with Eclair's own modifications to make them explode on contact with something.

Custom Skills/Outside System Skills:

- Arbalest - Just a fancy term to refer to her whip bow thing.

- Pseudo Dual-Wielding - Using a sword and a whip at the same time (she's ambidextrous).

- Coffee Connoisseur - Her coffee obsession.

- Trapmaking - Whips, swords, spears and explosives can make quite a few traps...

Kojiro Kun 3/7/13 . chapter 54

**Lancel - 1HSword + Shield**

Attrib S60/V30/A0/D10

Level Range: Clearer

Guild: ALF

Base Floor: ?

Skills: 1H Straight Sword

1H Blunt

2H Axe

Parry

Extended Weight Limit

Battle Healing

Real Name: Andrew

Main Weapons:  
Bastard Sword (Chivalry)  
Kite Shield (Knight's Duty)

Supplementary Weapons:  
1H mace ( Shed No Blood)  
Short Sword ( Last Defense)  
2H BattleAxe ( Shred Of Honor )  
Poleaxe ( Oriflamme )

**Appearance: **

Lancel is clad in full Plate armour colored a Azure Blue, he has his Battleaxe and kite shield sling ed on his back, his mace on his right hip, the bastard sword on his left hip, his polearm in his hands and his Short Sword kept behind his waist. ( Looks like healthcliff armour except its blue, has a knight helm and a dark blue hooded cloak)  
Avatar after the 'mirror': 17 years old, blue eyes with shoulder length black hair and slight stubble across his face ( like the actor playing Killi from the HOBBIT film)

**Fighting Style: **

Lancel's default Fighting Style is with his sword and shield, however he will switch weapons base on the situation at hand, such as using the mace for a armoured enemy, the poleaxe for enemies that must be kept at bay, the short sword when the fight needs to be really close, the battleaxe for massive damage, and even a short sword and bastard sword combo for DPS

Backstory:

Andrew's family is old british nobility with enough inherited wealth that the family could live well on the interest earned per year. Andrew is a hugh fan of his ancestor's martial history and as such is a ARMA & SCA member since his childhood learning the many weapons and armour usage of a knight from there. He moved to japan both as a way to borden his horizons and to play SAO as he wanted to test out his skills full fledged, to the death so to speak. He likes to act as Knightly as possible to pay homage to his distant ancestors and as such is willing to help out any party that needs him.

He is basically a Tank Char, using his shield and sword combo to soak up hits, however his many weapons also allow him to fulfill many roles at a pinch, i guess you can say his a jack of all trades, with a slight mastery in Tanking

zinmaster24 3/7/13 . chapter 54

**Zevela (F) - 2H Scythe, Dagger**

Attrib S50/V0/A45/D5

Level Range: Clearer

Base Floor: ?

Skills: 1H Curved Dagger

2H Scythe

Throwing Weapons

Sprint

Acrobatics

Battle Healing

Preferred Weapon: L18 Tanto(Dagger)[3S3D] 3/9, Throwing Needles, and when acquired a scythe.

PKer status: Not entirely sure of this. But I suppose green as she avoids killing or fighting other players, opting out to solo or join other players that she feels she can trust to not stab her in the back.

Nickname: The Reaper (Earned after revealing her scythe sword skills on the 20th floor boss raid.)

Appearance: 5'9". Dark skin. Black hair that's tied in a pony tail reaching the middle of her back with two bangs framing her face. Eye color is purple. Age 22. Her equipment is dyed all black with outlining of purple along the edging of her coat. She wears black beast hide threaded shirts and pants with an metal breast plate over the shirt for extra protection. Much in the way Kirito does, and a black coat that she had customized to have the outer edge lined in a deep royal purple, which is the same color of her eyes. She wears purple leather gloves with the knuckles cut out over her hands as she fights.

Battle Style: Zevela is a calculating clearer with no fear of death. She has a saying while in battle. "If you can't touch me, you will never kill me." She focuses on speed over strength but doesn't neglect the fact that she needs attacking power as well. While she may not fear death, she will never jeopardize another player's life in her attempts to kill a mob or boss. During the first half of a fight or most of the fight, Zevela will keep her dagger equipped on her at all times while using her throwing needles for ranged attacks to keep the mob off balance and allow her battle healing to take affect. If she gets into the red, she'll instantly back off and switch to her scythe for distance and AoE attacks while dealing as much damage as possible to finish up the fight quickly, since her dagger skills are lacking in power.

Personality: In battle, Zevela rarely speaks unless its of great importance or the need to coordinate attacks with other clearers to effectively end the fight as soon as possible. Outside of battle, she gives off the air of being unapproachable, but she's actually gentle and kind to those she trusts. Upon finding out that she was trapped in the death game of SAO she has accepted that this would be her new home for the time being, but still fights to clear the game to leave. She always speaks her mind without any hesitation and is direct with people when the need arises to do so. She loves children as well, since she planned on becoming a teacher after graduating collage. But since being stuck in SAO, she has gotten the mindset of, "what has happened has happened, and I will continue to live even if its in another world."

Supplementary Info: Zevela was one of the lucky 1,000 beta testers that had gotten pretty far on her own. As she fell victim to the death game, she quickly set out to beat the game soon after the end of the tutorial. She avoided other players for a number of days and missed out on the first floor boss raid but joined the second.

As for the rest of her character development. I've been mauling over the idea. I said in her initial background that she was going to become a teacher and loves children right? I was thinking about that Starting City orphanage that... umm... what the hell was her name? That one girl that ran it? Well what if after the attack on Starting City, Zevela notices that girl protecting the church alone and she goes to help her. During the fight, Zevela finds out that the church has been turned into an orphanage for the children. And decides to give a lot of her time to help out the children and the other girl that runs the place. Keeping up with their teachings, as she's a Japanese to English translator teacher. She could also give that girl... SASHA! Damn! It took me forever to remember her name! That's her name. Sasha. Had to look it up. Well she gives her a chance to actually go and level up as well to become a front liner, like she first intended to be. Hell the original story has already changed, so why not change it up a little more? It would give Zevela a little more depth in my opinion and not so battle oriented as she originally was and let's her grow as her own character in the future.

But if you had other plans for her that's fine too. I remember you saying in your author notes that most of the OCs were hard to introduce and develop because of them being so battle oriented. I thought this might help you a bit. Had I known that musical instruments were a skill, I would have added that long ago when I first submitted her. _

Oh! Speaking of skills! I do remember it. I included Light Metal Equipment as one of her skills, because she wears a breastplate over her shirt in the same way that Kirito does, but its dyed all black with a purple star in the middle for the symbol. And I forgot to mention before, as well. Zevela uses her acrobatics and Martial Arts skills in combination to keep her opponents guessing how she's going to attack next. I guess it could be an out of game skill. She was able to recreate Capoeira (The Brazilian Martial Art). She had to train it up fairly well to be able to use it without the cool down system taking affect in the game. She didn't get to experiment with it much during the beta, but since she has all the time in the world. That's one of the main reasons she one of the very few (If Only) people to do grinding at night when the monsters are stronger and visibility is poor. Since she can't rely on eyesight she would need to use her other senses to balance herself out while going through the acrobatic/martial art motions.

Ah. Alright then. And the same about Light Metal Equipment. She would kinda need that to have the center piece to her regular outfit.

And what I meant by the position of her scythe is. Once she reveals that she's able to wield it. She doesn't actually hide it anymore. XD Like the way Kirito does. He pulls out his two swords in a crossing formation. I've also thought about something actually. I remember it being from the anime or in another story I read or something. But Kirito explains about the system assist and how if you actually put your "all" into it before and actually carry through with the motion yourself rather than letting the system take over. Your attacks become that much more powerful. Well... I've been toying with the idea that I've seen been put into effect in Death Game? by Tigersight. (Great Story by the way. Check it out. He updates just about as regularly as you do.) His characters in that one have the system assist turned off. Not by their own choice mind you. But they've become a pretty recognizable force because of it. I was thinking... Having Zevela actually turn off her own System Assist and learn to do the skills on her own. Without the system assist there isn't a forced paused after her skills, but there IS still the cool down on when she can use the skills she can use. As well as the paralysis effects not working on her. But the pain dampeners are turned off. So its a trade off type of deal here. High Risk, High Reward. Just a thought though.

Zevela attaches the scythe to her back for quick switching so she doesn't have to go through her menus to pull it out. But only after pretty much everyone has seen that she's able to wield it. So at that point what's the point in hiding something when everyone has seen it right? And her dagger rests on the small of her back because she wields it in a reverse grip. Later on, when her throwing proficiency has gotten high enough. She'll throw her Scythe in the way of a boomerang. Making it slash into something but not actually stop in its current motion. It takes a LOT of skill and practice on her part for something like that, that she put the time into, but it pays off greatly in the long run. Later on as well, she gains a new dagger that's black in metal.

... I've put a LOT of thought into this character long before you took on OC's to this story. XD Its just that in this story and the type of Universe. She gets a few twists to her abilities. Its not enough to really be over the top and overpowered. But enough to get just slightly better than some of the others she's come across.

Takei Daloui | **C**

**Yunda - 1H Curved Blade, Scythe**

Attrib AGI (100)

Attrib S5/V0/A90/D5

Base Floor: ?

Skills: 1H Curved Blade

2H Scythe

Searching

Sprinting

Acrobatics

Extended Weight Limit (due to low STR)

PKer status - No kills.

supplementary information: Red hair and eyes. Medium height along with light build. Sword or scythe attached to his back and any armour is focused on agility, nothing giving any up. Known for his speed and his precision at strikes, giving him the nickname throughout SAO as either the Wind Runner or the Lightning Striker. Take your pick. He is a kind person but rather impatient sometimes, supporting his reasoning for focusuing on speed. He doesn't like things moving too slow.

| **Sorry Just a Lil bit of Message eDiting! TY**

**Aixen (M) - One-hand Sword (+ Offhand Sword) * No Sword Skills**

Attrib: S10/V20/A70/D0

Level Range: Clearer

Base Floor ?

Guild: DDA

Skills: 1H Sword

Martial Arts

Sprinting

Light Metal Equipment

Extended Weight Limit

Battle Healing

Aixen Rouen Y.(YAMATO) Windseord

Gender & Description: Male.,Age 16 A heterochromia person r. eye blue and l. eye green, hair dark gray, girlish look and slim body built

Nationality: Half Japanese and Half English from a rich and well known family in abroad

Player Background:A new transfer student from a private school in Philippines, A top list deliquent guy that suffer from a past bad memory of his childhood., He lost trust to all person who try to befriend him, causing him to think that they might after his life or fortune. Knowledgeable in YAWYAN(saYAW kamataYAN a Philippines martial ARTS) and champion of ARNIS or ESCRIMA(stick fighting or hand to hand combat with also influence JAPANESE AND PHILIPPINES martial arts). After making a new life in Japan he was now certified addicted in playing MMORPG games then sudden life changing event occurd while playing SAO the first VRMMORPG game he tried. Will he survive or end up dying inside the alter world of virtual reality.. Or discover a fascinating life he never experience like having friends that you can count on, to fall inlove and lost it in a blink of an eye, to move on the next level of life and pledge loyalty and trust to your enemy and forgive the people who betrayed you. Point of interest-

Character Name: Aixen

Characteristic and look:Hard headed, Impatient, Cold type, Moody,. But a certified unlucky person when involving with girls that causing him to earn a title of MR. PERVERT... Same as the real, armor slightly heavy leather armor.. Pure Black Color Napoleon type military coat and trim design of white and gray..

Weapon Name:Dual sword(r. hand Hells Judgement[curse sword that makes the user more wrathful and vengeful-element drawn DARKNESS] /l. hand Heavens Divider [a shards of memory from his beloved person that took her life in order to repay the ought of being save by him ), throwing daggers (soul disintegrator [advance poison attributes and has a coma effect)

Stats: Str: 900/1000 Agi: 1000/1000 Dex: 800/1000 Vit: 800/1000 Luck: 1000/1000

Skill Slot: Chaos Retribution max skill: Multi Slash combo upto 29 that severely damage the user and enemy at random skill execution phase., Seven Deadly Sin max skill: 7 crit. hit that can make enemy to fatally wounded their hp for time being., Sinister EXecution almost max: 66 random hit combo it can be crit or normal damage., Reapers Call max skill: 3 consecutive hit that flinching effect to the user., Fast draw max skill: execute fast phase of vertical or horizontal attack., Devils Nightmare max skill: 2 attack combo that damage the user and enemy at the same time..

Status Profile : Almost as the level of our favorite hero Kirito...(Clearer and a PK loner Character) KILL 7

Fighting Style: Dual type user of sword that has dissadvantage of hurting itself.. A swordsman person that apply a experience in real life knowledge in YAWYAN and ARNIS/ESCRIMA with his skill in SAO

Note: sorry for bad english typing Im not a native speaker of it... And to my favorite author empty265 just add anything you like to my character suggestion Thanks alot... god bless salamat ah XD!

DuelingFreak 3/8/13 . chapter 55

**Vendette (M) - 1H Sword (+Offhand Sword) *No Sword Skills**

Attrib: S65/V0/A35/D0

Skill Level: Clearer

Base Floor: ?

Guild: DDA

Skills: 1H Sword

Parry

Searching

Battle Healing

Great story so far, been reading since the beginning. I was happy to see you are accepting oc characters and I hope you use mine  
Name: Kenya Kagasha

User Name: Vendette(from the French word vedette, meaning star) (known later on as the Midnight Warrior, as his nickname from beta)

Age: 19

Preferred Weapon: Longsword (has second longsword for duel wielding though can't use sword skill) main sword is Midnight's Edge, dark blue blade with streaks of light blue marks, black handle and hilt, edge of blade shines like stars. Second sword is The Eclipse, dark orange mix with red blade with yellow and light red handle and hilt. I'll leave stat bonuses to you.

Stat Preference: STR and AGI, strength a little over agility

Level range: clearer, one of the strongest players as he was in the beta as well. One or two level below kirito.

Skills: one-hand sword, searching, battle healing, detection, acrobatics, parrying, sprint, delay, martial arts.

Fighting Style: He is a player of power and speed, hold off attacks the first few moments of the fight to assess opponent's style, strength and weaknesses. Has good reflexes and relies on hunches sometimes but is proud of the power of his attacks. He parries and dodges a lot to make up for lack of defense as his armor isn't meant to take too many hits. He also uses his speed in the first part of the fight to rain down quick slashes and stabs on opponent to think he is more of an AGI character. He also doesn't like using sword skills except when necessary, as it feels unnatural to him when fighting, especially PvP. He also has martial art as a secret technique and keeps a few throwing daggers in case he gets in a bad spot.

Appearance: Brown hair that covers his right eye and goes down his neck. Black eyes and a square jawed face. Pretty tall for his age, lean but not muscular. Wears a dark blue cloak with silver borders that glitters, light blue undershirt with a picture of the full moon, and black pants. Also has black gloves with a crecent moon on the back. Has an air of confidence and an aura of belief in his own power. For especially challenging tasks like soloing field bosses he will wear a dark blue set of light armor with black edges. Also will carry a black shield with a star enigma on it while wearing armor.

Characteristic: he lives life depending on himself a lot, but is friendly to those in needs. He just does things because they are the right think to do, and he has developed a strong sense of self-confidence. He truly believes that if he puts his all into a task he can do whatever he wants. Tends to be a loner and deals with problems on his own which can be a weakness as much as his strength. He accepts that there are limitations for doing things himself but tries anyways to surpass the limits.

PK Status: 3 kills, one when a Laughing Coffin player try to PK him and 2 more when they ambushed another player.

Backstory: As a child, his parents were never home and he ends up taking care of his younger brother and sister. At 15 he got a part time job teaching younger kids kendo at the dojo where he went to for 6 years. He uses the two-sword style which is reflected on his ability to duel wield in SAO despite no sword skill accessable. At 18 he won a contest at a local store that got him a spot on SAO beta. He became enthralled with SAO as he felt truly free to do whatever he want. He obtained the nickname Midnight Warrior as one of the best beta players and matches his color scheme.

Life in SAO: after hearing katana's notice of the game being a death game, he was scared for the first time he can remember, resulting in him thinking for a few hours what is he going to do. He then decided to fight to free the people as he can't just sit around and do nothing. He lives the life of a solo player but helps out player every once in a while. Because of that he has never joined a guild, though he has partied up with other people before. He has a soft spot for kids and once a day visits the lower floors to help them out, money or other means. He saves as much money as he can ans makes sure to have extra potions and crystals on him for emergencies. While not shy he doewnt like crowds and opts to be alone when he can. He can't ignore a cry for help though and that puts him into a bad situation sometimes. He has dealt with members of Laughin Coffins before and promises to stop them as much as he can, breaking his code of no PKing when another's life is in danger.

I kinda want him to be the character that pops in to help Kirito and his friends with something, then leaves when his help is no longer needed. He does this a few times before deciding to join forces together(not necessarily join guild though at this point he trusts them enough to not mind it). Besides that go ahead and have fun using this character.

arkveil7 3/10/13 . chapter 55

This is my favorite story on the website, keep up the good work!  
And heres an OC suggestion

Real Name: Jason Vanguard

Username: Jason

Nickname: Ghost

Age: 16

Level Range: High Group

Home Floor: 18th floor (once unlocked) Soul Realm

PK Status: 5, 2 to protect himself, and 3 for avenging a murdered party

Appearance: Jason stands to be 4ft 8', and a childish face, people often underestimate him as they think Jason as a weak 12-14 year old. Though he is called Ghost, he's dressed pretty bright. Jason wears a solid dark blue shirt underneath a pure white jacket (custom made by Ashley if she has already started making clothes. He wears pure black jeans with white shoes. His shield is one his left arm and he has his sword sheathed on his back.  
He has midnight black hair that is always messy. It is able to be patted down and in the front it sways to the right, slightly covering his right eye.

Main Weapon: 1H Sword, Infinity,Q3S2D1 it is pure black, with a sapphire blue line running through the middle from hilt to just stopping about 2 inches away from the tip; the hilt is leather. The shape is a Feudal Long sword, but with a tip like this /l. 1H Small shield, Absolute, made by Rose, the size of a football in the shape of a raindrop. More like an armguard then a shield. It is pitch black

Secondary: Dagger, Silent, Q4D2 made by Rose, shorter than most would want to use, about 8 inches. It is a dark violet color, with a black line running through the middle

Stats: 50% AGI, 35% STR, and 15% VIT

Skills: 1H Sword, 1H Shield, Dagger, Hiding, Searching, battle healing, acrobatics.

Fighting Style: Soloer. He is usually attacking first, using his high AGI to constantly stay out of reach and dashing in. He uses his strength to deal high damage and to use his shield effectively against blows. He mostly dodges attacks, using his shield when needed. When he's is in the red, he still fights on, always risking his own life. In a word, his fighting style is reckless.

Life before SAO: He was an average student, just getting regular grades, not drawing attention to himself because he HATES being in the spotlight. He had a harsh life, both parents dying when he was young, being sent to his uncle in the mountains. He was trained in swordsmanship even though it was an age of gun and technology. He had a sister named Rosalina, usually called Rose though. Jason had won SAO with his sister in a forbidden magazine contest as his uncle had forbidden all new technology, including magazines. Oddly enough, there was still electricity in their household. They logged on seconds before the announcement.

Life in SAO: When he and his sister had first heard the announcement of SAO being a death game, they didn't react like most of the other players had. They were actually happy, it meant getting away from their cruel uncle and living in a place where they can do something other than training. They hadn't been trying to clear the game, just mostly having fun, playing SAO the way it was originally thought to be played, Jason mostly. His sister did try to help out the other players by becoming a blacksmith. When on a trip to get more materials, Rose had died while Jason managed to escape. Before she died, Rose had said some last words, but Jason was unable to hear them. Jason was consumed by grief; the only thing he had treasured in his life was gone. He had decided to try and complete what Rose had attempted to do, rescue the other players and clear the game. Using the shield and dagger that was given to him by Rose, Jason had begun to fight to clear the game, but by then the clearers were at the 11th Floor. In an attempt to catch up, Jason soloed field bosses, not even caring about staying out of the red. When he had defeated the field boss, "The Shadow Stalker", Jason obtained his sword Infinity. His name "Ghost" comes from the fact that he just appears in the middle of a fight and disappears without a trace. No one knows his name or who he is.

Characteristics: Jason has made no friends and no enemies (currently). He is an extreme soloer, never partying and almost never found in a group. He helps out random parties that he encounters though and if it seems like they're doing well, Jason would stick around just to make sure it stays like that. If he had friends, the only thing they would know about him is that he is quiet, and never talks except when someone is in danger. They would think him as a serious player who wants nothing more than to clear the game. But he does have a soft side. He is actually a jokester and someone that just fools around. He can also be described as an idiot. He loves having fun and would even just go skip out of a boss meeting and go just relax. During battle though, he becomes cold and calculating. A big problem is that he doesn't actually think it through, he tends to just charge into the fight and plan out his strategy on the spot. Jason puts his allies above himself and is extremely loyal to his friends. He would use himself as a shield to block a blow for a friend or tell everyone to retreat and take on a boss or mob of... mobs... to save the others. He always ends up being able to survive somehow, but just barely. (I'm just saying that so he doesn't get killed off, you don't have to have that). Jason does get a bit annoyed if anyone mentions his height, and it can and will distract him in a fight

History behind Shield and Dagger: When Rose started off as a blacksmith, she attempted to make a shield and a sword. The results were ones with extremely good stats for an AGI and STR build, but they were smaller than most players would feel as "safe". Jason decided to hold on to them and he promised to use them. After Rose died, he used them as his main weapons until he got Infinity. Jason still uses them.

You can change as much as you want with this, just try to keep the basic character plz.

PM me for any questions and comments :P

A Jack Frost Guy 3/9/13 . chapter 55

Username: Arashi (Japanese for Storm)  
Real Name: Shimizu Junichiro  
Nickname: Swift Blade

Age: 14 (as of 15 Dec 2022, born 11 July 2009)

Personality: Rather cheerful and easy-going, but adopts a serious deposition in battle and demonstrates decent leadership qualities. Likes helping and is very protective of others, especially friends and loved ones. He's also the kind who'd beat himself up and wallow in depression if someone dies in front of him and he wasn't able to do anything to prevent it.

PK Status: Green, all targets knocked out with mallet

Main Weapon(s): One-handed Swords, signature weapons are a jet black sabre called Silent Requiem and a cobalt katzbalger called Sky Edge. Sometimes dual wielded, but no access to Dual Blades Sword Skills.

Sub Weapons: Throwing Pick, Mallet

Appearance: Messy reddish-copper hair and ocean blue eyes with a slightly rounded face. Has a lean build and wears a white shirt under a black coat (not unlike the Cloak of Midnight) along with black shorts and shoes. Usually wears a cloak in the presence of strangers.

Fighting Style: Very aggressive, dodges much more than he guards, does not hesitate to exploit weaknesses and openings. Only uses Sword Skills with minimal to no cooldown to prevent being crippled by long cooldown timings. Capable of throwing picks into someone during combat without the target even noticing at first.

Stat build: Mostly AGI (85%), some STR (15%)

Lvl range: Clearer

Skills: Searching, Sprinting, Parry, Throwing, Battle Healing, One-handed Sword, Hiding, Acrobatics

Base Floor: NA

Background: A nameless orphan adopted by the Shimizu family. Since young he had begun personal training so that he could become strong enough to protect others. As such, he usually stands up to the resident bullies in the neighbourhood and actually manages to subdue them with his ability to adapt quickly and fast reflexes. However, this is not always the case: he was once severely outnumbered and was left almost paralysed. Doesn't help that while the victims were grateful for his assistance (or attempts), most people viewed him as a delinquent who frequently got into fights.

In SAO: His skills and resolve to help/protect others is put to the test when he entered the death game. Initially he helped the weaker players to level up, but with the rising of criminal players and groups in Aincrad, he abandoned this task in favour of aiding victims and pursuing the perpetrators to send them to prison and hopefully reclaim stolen goods. He usually tries to negotiate, but is quick to react if a fight breaks out and knocks them unconscious with his mallet. His aggressive and swift fighting style has earned him the despised nickname of 'Swift Blade' amongst criminal circles. Outside of combat, he is usually visits Argo to obtain information on criminal groups, but he always changes his cloak and covers his face to avoid recognition by other people. Once in a blue moon, he can be seen at boss raids. He is very unwilling to take the lives of others and would do everything he can to protect those before him rather than to think too much about the risk that others may face, believing that the future is not always set in stone and that every soul can make a difference.

Quote: "Do I really need a reason to help others? A life is a life, every life has a soul, and every soul can make a difference."

Well, like I was saying in my first post, feel free to use him as you will, I don't need Arashi to play a big role and his dual wielding abilities can be scrapped as well. I'll be grateful and content if he shows up somewhere, and even more so if he's paired with some one. :p Other than that though, keep up this good (and interesting) piece of work!

Skills:  
1. Searching  
2. Throwing  
3. Sprinting  
4. Parry  
5. Battle Healing

Username: Izanagi  
Real Name: Fujimoto Haruo  
Nickname: White Devil

Age: 16 (as of 15 Dec 2022, born 19 Feb 2007)

Initial Personality: A person who is very silent and APPARENTLY doesn't give a damn about anything. He just observes silently. When he does speak, he tends to be rather cold, to the point and sometimes a bit of a deadpan snarker. He appears somewhat amused (or enraged) by human behaviour at times though, and actually has a soft spot for children. He does tend to be a little more relaxed around those he is close to and acts as a big brother figure to those who are younger. Especially aforementioned children.

Developed Personality: Over time as he gradually interacts with more people, he slowly loses his cold personality and becomes a rather friendly person and actually cracks a few jokes every now and then. He's still quite blunt and retains his being a deadpan snarker though.

PK Status: About 6 players killed. Always either in self-defence or to save others though.

Main Weapon(s): Naginata, initially One-handed Sword and Spear. Signature weapon is a naginata with a snow-white blade and an intricately designed shaft called Light of Sol. Surprisingly durable.

Sub Weapons: Throwing Picks and just about anything he can get his hands on. For throwing and outright smashing others in the face.

Appearance: Jet-black hair tied up into a long ponytail, sharp black eyes and a rather round face. Usually wears a snow white coat over a red shirt, as well as long white pants and chainmail boots. Also wears leather armour over his shirt and forearms. Sometimes wears an attire similar to that of a shrine guardian's.

Fighting Style: Mostly a solo player. Calm and somewhat mechanical. Usually lets opponent take the offence and constantly guards until he discovers an opening to deal a heavy blow. When forced to take offensive action, he charges forward and prepares to deal either a heavy overhead smash or a horizontal/diagonal slash. Usually taking a hit-and-run method if latter.

Stat build: Mostly STR (60), some AGI (30) and a little VIT (10)

Lvl range: Clearer

Skills: Sprinting, Parry, Throwing, Battle Healing, One-handed Sword (dropped aft unlocking Naginata), Spear (also dropped aft unlocking Naginata), Naginata (current), Martial Arts, Smithing, Appraisal

Base Floor: 1st, in the Starting City Orphanage

Background: The result of a one night stand, he is the illegitimate son of a wealthy lady, and his father has been missing from his life since. His mother was aware of his father's identity, but did not seek him out to prevent disrupting the lives of both parties. He was doted upon by his mother and grandparents until the former passed away due to cancer and the latter of old age. Stricken by grief, he slowly changed from a bright and cheerful boy to his current persona. To make matters worse, he has had to contend with many greedy people eyeing the wealth that his mother left behind. He seeks solace in reading up on mythology and playing some video games, and is envious of normal children who could live normal lives with their families. It was his hobbies (though more of the latter) that would later inspire his appearance and avatar in the death game: Izanagi.

In SAO: When Kayaba revealed that SAO had become a death game, he became further depressed and had intended to end his seemingly meaningless life. However, before he could do so, he saw a small group of scared children cuddled together in a corner. A tiny flame was relit in his heart at that moment, and he decided not to give up on life so easily and find a new meaning to his life himself. He would help take care of the aforementioned children for a while, and would later contribute in the founding of the Starting City Orphanage. He then shows up on the frontlines to help clear the game so that the children could quickly return home to their families. During his time on the frontlines and back in the orphanage, he gradually gains an interest in human behaviour (mainly thanks to a certain black swordsman's interactions with his friends) although he still stands back and simply observes such interactions most of the time. This would consolidate his view on human life: that every person is unique and deserves a chance to live and prove himself to the world. As a result however, when he learns of criminal groups running amuk in Aincrad, most notably Laughing Coffin, he becomes enraged by their actions and casual disregard for human life. This leads to an immense hatred toward red players, whom he would not hesitate to fight if caught in the act. He also feels very little about killing red players, stating that "the day they became senseless killers was the day they ceased to be human." Let it not be said that he's unreasonable though: if they have something to say in their defence, he'll listen. His rather clinical methods of killing mobs (and red players) would soon give birth to the dreaded nickname of 'White Devil'. In a group, he shows a great sense of leadership and strategising, and is capable of concocting a new plan on the fly if necessary. His personality would later change as he begins to interact with more people and slowly revert to that of his old personality before losing his family.

Quotes: "I am born of the blood of the Hierophant, and from the womb of Juno. I am Izanagi! Stop this madness, lest I have thy head!" - to criminal players caught in the act  
"Time flows on without stopping for anyone... that is why only when we are willing to embrace the end and we find a meaning to our existence can we truly grow stronger." - to ? at some point in time  
"Have you had an identity crisis before? Not knowing who you are? I did a while back... Was I Fujimoto Haruo, illegitimate child of the Fujimoto family, the lonely orphan? Was I Izanagi, the cold-blooded warrior? I might still have it now, but I do know this: I am simply myself. And I will find the meaning of my existence, someday!" - to ? at some point in time  
"Huh? Why do I help those kids? Well, I can understand how it's like... being separated from your family and being all alone... It's natural for anyone to cling onto hope in dark times. Who better than someone who can sympathise with that pain?" - when questioned about helping the orphans  
"I may have been a cold-blooded machine in the past... but now, my eyes are open: these people are my family, my friends. I won't let you hurt them!" - to ? post character development

... Well, I presume that plenty of people reading this now know where I got the inspiration for the attire and weapon choice from. I think. I even dropped a hint back there. To clarify the second quote though, what he means is that when one can fully accept that he will die (regardless of reason), he will be able to find strength to do his best, especially if he has a reason to live.  
Say, perhaps you could make Kirito's biological dad (dead, I know. That's sorta the point.) a bit of a jerk and have this OC be Kirito's half bro? Might be fun. XP  
Anw, once again keep up the good work! I'm looking out for the next chapter!

Submitted Skills

... I underestimated hardcore gamers. But where are my manners, thx for the welcome! Anw, my list is below, and just remember that any of them that's remotely similar to any real ones in Infinity Moment is purely a coincidence... Though I won't deny some had various sources of inspiration.

[Leviathan Crash] - Weapon glows blue and the user charges forward (able to weave past obstacles or simply crash into them and proceed, but at the cost of some HP), ending the move with a jump and heavy overhead strike. Severe knockback.

[Wild Fang] - Dagger Skill. Charge up energy for a series of random (but vicious) thrusts in all directions. Longer charge boosts damage multiplier. Multiplier does not stack with status bonuses.

[Noble Star] - Dual Blades Skill. Make a short lunge forward and execute a flurry of slashes in a star shape. A short, speedy 7-hit combo with a rather short cooldown time.

[Strength of the Bear] - A single strike Claw skill that deals massive damage and stuns the target.

[Vorpal Death] - Shafted weapon (e.g. Spear) skill. The weapon's edge glows an eerie purple and extends as the user swings it in a sweeping arc, damaging multiple enemies.

[Hunter Crash] - With [Dash] skill. Leap into the air and suddenly propel yourself into the enemy. A [Leviathan Crash] variant without dashing and higher emphasis on severely damaging single targets instead of dodging obstacles/striking several targets. Higher chance of knocking down targets.

[Dragger Blade] - Scythe/Naginata skill. Hook the target unto the blade and swing the weapon around, smashing the victim into objects (and other targets!) while he takes continuous damage. Higher level of mastery allows for longer duration. Can be ended with [Launcher Blade] technique.  
[Precision Arc] - Shafted weapon skill. A sword skill that does even more damage than most others when striking weak points, and vice versa. Moves in a cleaving arc.

[Launcher Blade] - [Dragger Blade] follow-up. Launch the victim into another target or into the air. More of a technique than a Sword Skill, but [Dragger Blade]'s cooldown time will kick in afterward if used as its follow-up. A non-lethal version with no drawbacks can be executed with larger weapons using the flat of the blade to catapult allies into the air. Latter version useful on larger/flying bosses and mobs.

[Hustle Smash] - Unarmed combat technique (Martial Arts? Or can just leave it without System Assist). Head butt, sweeping kick, uppercut, jump, head butt then drop kick (or just plunge a weapon through). That's gotta hurt like hell...

[Whimsical Wind] - Bladed weapons only. An aerial charge with the user's blade leading the way. Don't get dizzy now, you'll be spinning quite a fair bit.

[Flash Blade Works] - Dual Blades skill. Unleash a rapid series of slashes unto the enemy with such speed, it looks as if the user is simultaneously wielding several blades. 22 hit combo. Yes, I made use of F/SN's UBW (name-wise) when I named this skill.

[Lunar Ring] - Bladed weapons only. A singular rotation that strikes all surrounding enemies in range whilst leaving behind a slivery afterimage for a few seconds, which does continuous damage to those in contact with it.

Well, there's my own list. Feel free to use and edit them as you will.

ShogunAssassin44 3/8/13 . chapter 55

I've been reading your story since chapter 22, and I am very impressed with your work. While I usually like longer chapters, your up date speed easily makes up for the chapter length. (Even then it is still rather impressive)

Now I saw that you were looking for OCs to put in your story. I have a character you could use, and I did see what will happen to villains. I just hope that he gets the death he deserves.

Name: Arashi Chiheisen (Storm Horizon, or rather Horizon Storm in the Japanese way)

User Name: Jetstream (Nick-name: Jet)

Age: 19

Preferred Weapon: Katana Type, Tachi (Cold Nights)

Cold Nights allows the user to deal up to 75% critical damage, 20% of all times. Strangely, once the sword is drawn, it can't be returned to it's scabbard until it has dealt some-kind of damage. (Mob, Player or User)

*A Tachi is a Japanese Long Sword carried with the blade facing down and on the persons back horizontally. Sword is drawn from the left side with the right hand*

Secondary Weapon: Katana Type, Wakizashi (One Thousand Cuts)

Stat Preference: AGI

Fighting Style: He likes to fight his opponents using a combination of rapid sword swings, jabs with the blunt end of his main weapon and quick draws. However, when using his secondary weapon, he holds the blade in a reverse grip. (Think of the fighting style from Star Wars the Force Unleashed) While fighting, he likes to focus on taking down the opponent quickly though the attacking weak points and blind-spots. He will parry and dodge attacks, and quickly get a shot off when he finds an opening. Getting critical strikes is his speciality. While he can't deal as much damage as some of the Clears, he deals out an insane amount of critical damage.

Appearance: He has an angular face, blue eyes and has his Dyed) white hair tied up in a high ponytail. He is also has short brown facial hair on the sides of his face, chin and mustache area. He dresses in a manner similar to a Samurai, however he only wears armour on his left arm. His right man is completely uncovered. He wears tan clothing under black shogun plate armour with red highlights on his left arm, His right arm is only covered by his skin, and his legs are only covered by tan hakuma leggings. He wears black plated sandals.

PK Status: Over 15 confirmed kills. All killed though duels, and with his sword "Cold Nights."

Backstory: He had a hard life as a child and was abandoned in all but name by his parents, but was taught Kenjutsu by his Uncle who took him in. From him, he learnt the style of the Uradachi technique, also knewn as known as Satsujin-ken or "the Murdering Sword." It was only when he came trapped inside the Death Game of Sword Art Online, that he discovered his his love for fighting, or rather killing. Despite this, he is always looking for strong opponents to fight. He will show mercy for those who he enjoys fighting with, and will not fight people who are below a certain level. He will fight those he feels are not worthy of living, and those who get in his away. However, he will only kill someone though duels, or rather, duels to the death. Stating that, "when one's life is no the line, the thrill of battle is that much more exciting."

I hope you like the character, and accept him as a villain in your story. If you need to change anything, then go right ahead. I just hope you give him the fight of his life.

Kojiro Kun 3/8/13 . chapter 55

Oh bravo! a excellent chap. im really loving the Orb of Lightning, its effects seemed awesome! Cool introduction of Healthcliff as well, i gotta confess in SAO my favorite char after Kirito would be Healthcliff just thanks to his incredible fighting style.

If its possible, i was hoping that Lancel's Sword and Shield fighting style will be along those lines except that he is able to quickly switch between his weapons.

And if its possible i would also like it if you turned the second OC i submit into a fem char and use her as a pairing for Klein, cus i kinda feel sorry for him? haha XD

P.S: Its too much to ask if Lancel can also carry around a few throwing axes that he can use to invite aggro?

Heres a Range char if you wanna use her.

Name: Raliel Le Roux

Display Name: Gwynvire

Gender: Female

Preferred Weapons: Crossbow (Arbalest Type), Sabre and Main Gauche

Stat Emphasis: Str & Algi 4:1 ratio

Level range: High group

PKer Status: Non-PKer

Skills: Sprint, Acrobatics, Throwing Weapons(for the crossbow?), Parry ,1H Sword, Hiding, and Light leather Equipment,

Fighting Style: Gwynvire default Fighting Style is with using her crossbow as much as possible, her high strength allows her to draw the Arblest with the usage of a winch system, thus allowing her to load her weapon quickly. Her usage of her Sabre and Main gauche is only when the enemy approaches within melee range.

Appearance: Gwynvire is clad in blue leather armour with a musketeer feathered cap, she has bandoliers of crossbow bolts on both thighs, a Chest Bandolier of Crossbow bolts, with her sabre and main gauche resting on her hips ( Looks like Lyfa's armour except its blue, has a feathered cap and a blue leather pants)

Backstory: Raliel's family is a normal middle class family, with the only difference being her father used to be a Olympic Fencer in the Sabre category. She is currently in a relationship with Andrew and as such she has join him as a ARMA & SCA member where she picked up her fencing and crossbow skills. She moved to japan with Andrew and joined him in SAO as a way to spend more time with her boyfriend. Raliel will only party with Andrew, without him, she will train as a solo

Avatar after the 'mirror': 17 years old, blue eyes with neck length blonde hair (kinda looks like No 18 from dragonball except she has the actress who plays Fleur's face)

Basically i want to give the impression of a musketeer type character, with the crossbow acting as the rifle and the sabre and main gauche as the fencing type weapons that popular culture says the musketeers used

Kojiro Kun 3/7/13 . chapter 54

Name: Sasaki Mikaze  
Display Name: Kojirou  
Level : Clearer ( but more on the clear the guardian mobs then the actual boss)  
Stat Emphasis: ALGI

Main Weapons:  
Katana weapon Tachi Varation ( Autumn Descends)

Fighting Style: Kojirou's fighting style is build more for humanoid opponents, he uses alot of parries, deflecting and dodging against his enemies before he counters, this along with the koryu Kenjutsu he learns makes him very dangerous since he is able to transition from simple 1 - 2 hit sword skills continuously as his kenjutsu studies gave him enough knowledge on how to position himself properly

Appearance: Kojirou dresses like Himura Kenshin from Rouroni Kenshin except that he also adds a dark red haori over it.

Backstory: Kojirou's family owns a small dojo that teaches Koryu Kenjutsu, his purpose in joining SAO was like Lancel, to test out his hard learnt skills in a battle enviroment as such he gets on well with lancel and they usually party together.

Avatar after the 'mirror': 17 years old, brown eyes with shoulder length brown hair tied up in a ponytail ( like the actor playing kenshin from the rouroni Kenshin film except he has no Scars)

He is basically a DPS Char, using his Sword skills and real life combat skills to chain hits together, however you can say that he is overly specialized in his DPS role.

Raventus Dracoria

Real Name: Shin Kurogane  
SAO Alias: Kalas  
Gender: Male  
Stats:Strength 45%, Agility 25%, Vitality 30% (Note: I'm not sure if there is a dexterity skill in SAO so if there is please add it in)  
Skills: Two-Handed Strait Sword, Light Metal Equipment, Battle Healing, Tracking, X-Ray vision, Familiar Communication  
Familiar: Black Wolf, Name: Anubis(Skills: Tracking, Poison Bite, Pack Call(Brings nearby wolf creatures to assist in battle))  
Self Titled Job Class: Hunter  
PK Status: Non-PK (Unless Self Defense against PKers)  
Good Guy

Level:35

Home Floor: 28 Plain of Wolves, Town: Lupus  
Equipment Set  
Steel Heart(Two-Handed Long Sword)  
Sainted Mythril Cainmail  
Wolf Fang Pendant(Raises Tracking Skill and increases Agility)  
Dragon Hide Boots  
Game Clearing Equipment  
Arondite Betrayer( Two-Handed Long Sword)  
Imperial Knightguard Armor set  
Crystal Dragon Hide Boots  
Appearance: Average Height, Average Build, Messy Black Hair, Green Eyes, Slanted Scar Over Left Eye  
Personality: Loner due to sociability issues, willing to help others when the need arises, willing to work as a team member but prefers to operate his own way.  
Fighting style: Prefers to go one on one in battles so he isolates a monster from that group and then fights the monster with Anubis as support and running distraction when he needs too heal. Prefers to use long swords to maintain distance while also applying power and having a wide attack range.  
Real life back story: After being injured in a car accident his family moved to the country side to help him recover away from the city. While recovering he gained an appreciation for nature and enjoyed camping almost every day.  
SAO Job: Follows the clearing groups up the floors but does not join in on the floor boss raids preferring to instead farm the monster for upgrading materials to sell to players on the lower levels to help them survive. Spends most of his time out in the field(He is not a clearer like you asked for and acts as a support, but can switch over at any time)  
Possible Unique Skill (Void Weapon)- manipulates space allowing weapon attacks to hit from a greater distance.  
Related Sword Skills  
Void Slash: releases a crescent shockwave from the sword blade to the enemy  
Void Crater(AOE attack): jumps into the air then comes down plunging the sword into the ground releasing a wave of energy that damages all enemies in range  
Void Saber: The currently equipped weapon is coated in a veil of energy that increased the range of the weapon by 3  
Personal quirks: Has a hard time with people thinking he's a delinquent do to his scar, easily flustered from any compliment offered by a female, loves to eat any melon flavored food  
Guild: Open to any possibilities

I have an idea for a PKK character but I haven't fully developed the idea, Hopefully I will not see my character killed off and possibly join the main cast latter on. If I come up with any new idea's I'll give your a PM. I hope there is enough information here make this OC, Please send me a refined format of the character outline when you have made your changes so I can see how it will turn out.

Real Name: Shin Kurogane  
SAO Alias: Kalas  
Gender: Male  
Stats:Strength 45%, Agility 25%, Vitality 30% (Note: I'm not sure if there is a dexterity skill in SAO so if there is please add it in)  
Skills: Two-Handed Strait Sword, Light Metal Equipment, Battle Healing, Tracking, X-Ray vision, Familiar Communication  
Familiar: Black Wolf, Name: Anubis(Skills: Tracking, Poison Bite, Pack Call(Brings nearby wolf creatures to assist in battle))  
Self Titled Job Class: Hunter  
PK Status: Non-PK (Unless Self Defense against PKers)  
Good Guy

Level:35

Home Floor: 28 Plain of Wolves, Town: Lupus  
Equipment Set  
Steel Heart(Two-Handed Long Sword)  
Sainted Mythril Cainmail  
Wolf Fang Pendant(Raises Tracking Skill and increases Agility)  
Dragon Hide Boots  
Game Clearing Equipment  
Arondite Betrayer( Two-Handed Long Sword)  
Imperial Knightguard Armor set  
Crystal Dragon Hide Boots  
Appearance: Average Height, Average Build, Messy Black Hair, Green Eyes, Slanted Scar Over Left Eye  
Personality: Loner due to sociability issues, willing to help others when the need arises, willing to work as a team member but prefers to operate his own way.  
Fighting style: Prefers to go one on one in battles so he isolates a monster from that group and then fights the monster with Anubis as support and running distraction when he needs too heal. Prefers to use long swords to maintain distance while also applying power and having a wide attack range.  
Real life back story: After being injured in a car accident his family moved to the country side to help him recover away from the city. While recovering he gained an appreciation for nature and enjoyed camping almost every day.  
SAO Job: Follows the clearing groups up the floors but does not join in on the floor boss raids preferring to instead farm the monster for upgrading materials to sell to players on the lower levels to help them survive. Spends most of his time out in the field(He is not a clearer like you asked for and acts as a support, but can switch over at any time)  
Possible Unique Skill (Void Weapon)- manipulates space allowing weapon attacks to hit from a greater distance.  
Related Sword Skills  
Void Slash: releases a crescent shockwave from the sword blade to the enemy  
Void Crater(AOE attack): jumps into the air then comes down plunging the sword into the ground releasing a wave of energy that damages all enemies in range  
Void Saber: The currently equipped weapon is coated in a veil of energy that increased the range of the weapon by 3  
Personal quirks: Has a hard time with people thinking he's a delinquent do to his scar, easily flustered from any compliment offered by a female, loves to eat any melon flavored food  
Guild: Open to any possibilities

I have an idea for a PKK character but I haven't fully developed the idea, Hopefully I will not see my character killed off and possibly join the main cast latter on. If I come up with any new idea's I'll give your a PM. I hope there is enough information here make this OC, Please send me a refined format of the character outline when you have made your changes so I can see how it will turn out.

SAO Beater No. 7

Char Data:  
Seishuku Sashu (M) - 2H Bow, 1H Daggers  
(Name means - Silent Bowman/Archer)  
Attrib STR (30)/AGI(50)/VIT(20)

Level Range: Frontline Support/Soloer

Base Floor: N/A - No Base

Forge Ups:  
Sharp (S) - Deals more melee damage  
Durability (D) - Lasts Longer  
Heaviness (H) - Gets Heavier  
Quickness (Q) - Faster to use  
Accuracy (A) - More accurate  
Bow Uniqe Forge Ups: (You can let other Bow OCs get these, you have permission)  
ArrowAura (AA) - Arrows deal more damage Max Lv. N/A, Deals +5% damage VS all per level  
ArmorPiercing (AP) - Arrows deal 25% more damage VS armored, pierce armor, doesn't ignore. Max Lv. N/A, Deals +15% Damage VS Armored per level  
IncinerationArrows (IA) - STANDARD arrows have a EXPLOSION chance and a BURN chance (Explosion 1/25 Burn 1/5) MAX Lv.2 (Explosion 1/10 Burn 100%)  
TraumaArrows (TA) - STANDARD arrows can be BLUNTED and have a KO chance and a KO-GAS RELEASE channce (KO 1/5 KO Gas 1/10) Max Lv. 2 (KO 1/3 KO Gas 1/4)

Skills: (T1H means temporarily he releases one hand on the bow to use a Bow/Sword Skill)  
2H Snipe Shot [Hold bow close to head when about to fire and crouch to activate. 5 Sec CD] (Vision Zooms in and Weak spots are highlighted to user for 5 Seconds)

2H Volley [Load 3 arrows in the bow, aim at an upward angle, and pull. When the bow is glowing you can aim and then fire the release. 20 Sec CD](Arrows will duplicate to around 50 midair, with low accuracy but relatively high damage and will hit almost all enemies at least 3 times.)

T1H Turret [Slam the bow into the ground one end first, and the ground will suddenly become soft just there. During use player is incapacitated for 30 Seconds, and this has a 3 hour CD] (The bow will be stuck in the ground, but it will generate arrows above it, which will float and auto-fire at enemies until all enemies are killed or it is destroyed. Its HP = 75% of Users Max HP. It has a auto regenrating shield, which has bout 50% of the Users Max HP, and has a always active battle healing option. Despite that, if destroyed, the bow itself will not return to user, forcing the user to get a new one)

Counter Shot

Light Leather/Chainmail Armor

Misc. Bows (See Sup. Weapons)

Sprinting 455/1000

Battle Healing 517/1000

Real Name: Matthew

Main Weapons Notes: All of the arrow blades must be manufactured at the cost of some of his own HP (F1-5s cost 10HP p/Arrow F6-20s cost 100 HP p/Arrow F21-29s cost 250HP F30s cost 50% HP p/Arrow F31s take 25% HP, and each floor above takes +2.5% HP), outside of safe zones, so he usually finds a couple trustworthy players and goes out into a dungeon to reload. Bows may also be made that way, but only bows he has/had and each floor level up takes 5% more HP at a max 90% HP cost (F1 takes 5%HP)  
Main Weapons:  
Composite Steel/Copper Long-Bow +4/15 (S1 D3) (Eagle Eye) [Unique Field Boss Drop] {Can be used as a L20+ blade}  
Arrow-Blades (Blood-Bathed Copper) UNLOCKED w/Eagle Eye {Can be used as a Dart if thrown in a specific manner}  
Supplementary Weapons:  
Arrow-Blades (Surgical Obsidian) UNLOCKED F5 {Can be used as a Dart if thrown in a specific manner} [Piercing Damage]  
Arrow-Blades (Brightest Night) F15 {Can be used as a Dart if thrown in a specific manner} [FLARE/Flashbang/Flashlight]  
Arrow-Blades (Darkest Day) F15 {Can be used as a Dart if thrown in a specific manner} [Poison Tipped: 4 Poisons: Default-Blindness, Paralysis, Acid (Deals AOE Instant damage), Poison (Deals Singular DoT)]  
Arrow-Blades (Vampiric Arrow) F20 {Can be used as a Dart if thrown in a specific manner} [Gives 15% of damage dealt back to user as HP]  
Arrow-Blades (Creation Embodied) F30 {Can be used as a Dart if thrown in a specific manner} [Duplicates every 5m Traveled - 1 to 10 to 100 to 500 max (Spreads out average 2 arrows every SQUARE FOOT for final)]  
Arrow-Blades (Destruction Embodied) F30 {Can be used as a Dart if thrown in a specific manner} [Ignores Armor and Weapons (Like Vorpal Strike) and if it phases through a weapon of armor, the armor/weapon breaks, or loses a large part of its durability.]  
(More arrow blades unlocked as leveled up) I'll PM you them  
1H Dagger (Obsidian Heart) L20+ Dagger

Enchanted Wood Bow (Gaia's Bow) [Unique Field Boss Drop] +7/10 (S2 D2 AP1 FAILED2) {Can be used as a L15-20 Blade} {STANDARD arrows causes the ground to shoot up in a 2x2 area with the arrow as the midpoint}

Silver-Reinforced Glass Bow (Bow of the Light) [Nearly Unique Dungeon (1/5 natrually found) Loot] +14/25 (S2 D4 IA2 AP2 AA2 FAILED2) {Can be used as a L15 Blade} {# of upgrades increases as users level increases. If stolen, all Ups disappear, and must be re=upped, if returned, new ups disappear, and old ups reappear.}

Steel Bow (The Grower) [Very Rare (2+?/100 natrually found)] +9/17 (S2 D2 AP4 FAILED2) {Can be used as a L20-25 Blade} {Ups AP randomly after enough kills with the bow.}

Iron Bow (Metal Long Bow) +5/20 (AA4 FAILED1) {Can be used as a L 25 Blade} [Nothing Unique, just a high-powered blade/bow]

Appearance:

Sashu is a young man whose black hair always shadows his face, blocking off any one from seeing his face. He is a 5"2 - 5"6 in height. He is always with at least one of his bows on his back, He wears a grayish cloak which also covers his face. He straps his bows onto his back in a sort of harness-loop. He always has a book in hand except during battles and likes to quotes random famous Western people out of nowhere.

Fighting Style:

The standard battle form for Sashu is to wait behind lines of tankers, and pick off weakened enemies, or attempt to head-shot more dangerous ones. He has high Sprinting and Hiding, along with Battle healing which developed as a result of him creating arrows from his own HP, which would auto-stop when he hit 10%. He deals low damage when using standard non-blade arrows, but if he hits weak points, they do huge amounts of damage. Headshots do from 65-100% of the enemies HP in damage. is special arrow-blades/darts have unique abilities, but must be forged from his own body for a large cost. Standard Arrows only cost 1% HP apiece, but the special ones cost much more.  
Backstory:

Matthew refuses to tell anyone of his life, but as it goes, He lived with his mom and dad, and before his brother died, his brother. When his brother died, he became a kendo practitioner in his memory and devoted himself to study and Kendo. He is also a extremely skilled computer hacker, but apparently doesn't want to hack SAO as it would be "Too Cheap" as he calls it. He loves to play RPGs and MMORPGs, mainly as a PKer, PVPer, or a Back-rank player. He won a copy of SAO at a MMORPG in-game competition.

The Eagle Eye drop is from the Metal Eagle FB  
Gaia's bow is from Tree Ent G

The bows' blade level is its floor level. L20+ cost 90% HP

Just call me Shimo, and here you go:

Username: Rei-Eki (Rei for short)  
Real name: Xavier Reikon  
Gender: Male  
Level: High to Elite  
Stat Distribution: 35%STR, 35%AGI, 20%Dex, 10%VIT  
PK status: NO, not a PKer  
Guild: No, prefers to solo

Weapon Preference: a Knight-sword style flamberge and throwing knives

Skills (Main): Two-handed sword, Cooking, Battle healing, Searching, Detection, Sprint

Skills (Optional): Musical Instrument: Harmonica, Blade Throwing

(that's if passive Skills count toward the main skills, if not, then: Skills (Main):Two handed Sword, One handed Sword, Cooking, Metal Equipment Repairing, Slash Weapon Forging, Battle Healing, Skills (Passive): Sprint, Tracking, Hiding, Pursuit, Extended Weight Limit, Skills (Optional) Musical Instrument: Harmonica, Blade Throwing)

Special Weapon: Name: Flamberge no Shimo (Flame-blade of Frost), it's Metallic blue bladed Flamberge with a sapphire-crystal core and a 2 1/2 foot blade, the back of it's guard is at a 45 degree angle to blade and has a ring on it with an ice blue cloth tied to it, the front part of the guard is 90 degrees to the blade, is like the Anneal Blade's guard, except, it has a curved piece sticking out of the bottom that goes down in front of the wielders hands. Weapon's abilities: Can only be used by current owner registered to the blade (Rei), will freeze the hand of anyone else who tries to pick it up, 3% AGI boost, 3% STR boost, if owner dies, someone else may steal it, and they will become the swords registered user, extremely high durability.

Background (Combat): Informal Weapons training, speed based combat style, hates to lose and prefers to use a back-sheath for weapons.

Background (Non-combat): born in Canada originally, he went to live with family in japan so he could play SAO and receive schooling there, is sarcastic, cold, and speaks in few words to those he doesn't know, is NOT a morning person, and hates the fact that he can't have his ipod with him in SAO. waited in line for days to get a copy of SAO. Prefers to wear an open zip-up hooded sweater over a t-shirt, with baggy cargo jeans and runners. likes to wear blue, grey, white, black, and silver. won't wear red, yellow, pink, or purple. has borderline arachnaphobia (Hates anything insect like, larger insects/arachnids are terrifying to him), and has played many MMO's. originally interested in videogames around age 12. was 16 when SAO started. birthday is mar 27.  
16 minutes ago

Oh, darn, forgot, Xavier Reikon has Blue eyes and black hair.


	4. Prologue - Game Over

**Ch.1 Prologue - Game Over**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

Aincrad Standard Date: [2 years 182 days]

Aincrad Standard Time: [14:30]

Location: [ Instance Dungeon - Restricted ]

Players Alive: [Restricted]

Game Status: Running...

"Sayonara, Kirigaya Kazuto" Kayaba gently calls out Kirito's real name.

Dodging the final strike of Kirito's [The Eclipse], Kayaba's [Liberator] slashes down mercilessly across Kirito's body, and the boy falls down on the ground and remains motionless. No blood was shed as SAO did not implement this feature, after all it was a game aimed at all ages. However this did not change the fundamental fact that one's fate was sealed the moment HP hits zero.

[You are dead]

Kirito barely notices the purple notice sealing his fate, but struggles to glare at Kayaba. He had let down everyone that supported and cared for him, and allows himself to be played by this cold blooded monster. 10,000 lives, all removed from their normal place in life, never to return to the way it was before. It was all due to the deeds of this man, and there was no way to forgive him. Yet, the feelings that Kirito held towards the man was not intense hatred.

_Why? Why did you create this game? What was the meaning of this slaughter? The Kayaba that I respected was not such a man..._

At this point, Kayaba's voice seemed faint, as if it was nothing more than an echo in the wind.

"Everything turned out better than I thought, but I'm afraid that this experiment was still a failure."

_What does he mean an experiment? Are we all but mere guinea pigs for his sick game? Why place your own life in jeopardy if it was all just a sick experiment? There was no need to duel me if it was just a 'game'..._

"Nonetheless, I commend you for your efforts. With this, I guess it's the end. I'll see you again, Kazuto-kun."

_See me again? What does he mean? I need answers..._

"[System Call: Game Over]"

_**[The world fades to black]**_


	5. Prologue - Final Take

**Prologue - Reset and Repeat**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

Aincrad Standard Date: [0 days]

Aincrad Standard Time: [00:00]

Location: [ Restricted ]

Players Alive: [10,000]

Game Status: Pre-restoration backup completed... Reinitializing...

**[Japan Date/Time: 2022 November 6th, 15:50]**

Kayaba Akihiko removed his NERVEGEAR from his head, slightly weak from the extended testing session. His head was spinning, and his memory was fuzzy at best. A woman, around her late 20's, comes up to him and helps Kayaba sit up, and hands him a cup of water.

"Akihiko-san, how are you feeling?" The lady gently asked.

"Not well, who are you?" Kayaba responded, his thoughts still in complete disarray.

" Please lie down and rest for a while, you'll feel better soon. I guess the effect of acceleration is still affecting you, " Taking the cup from Kayaba, the woman assures Kayaba before picking up a checklist from a nearby bench.

"Thank you, uh... Rinko"

The woman, wearing a white lab coat on top her casual clothing, proceeds to make several remarks on her checklist.

"Cognition level... 7; Speech - 9, Hearing - 10... " Koujiro Rinko, Kayaba's former university lover, and current assistant, runs through the health checkup as Kayaba recovers.

It had been ten years since Rinko had assisted Kayaba Akihiko with the development of SAO, but it was only recently that she discovered his intent to trap players for a deadly game of conquest. Tracking down Kayaba's whereabouts, she had intended to stop Kayaba before he was able to complete his plan which would make him a mass murderer. Ultimately, she was unable to bring herself to kill her former mentor and lover. Rinko, now acknowledging the fact that she knowingly let 10,000 people endanger their lives, decided that she would bear the burden of the sins that Kayaba created.

15 minutes later, Kayaba's checkup was completed, and Rinko briefed Kayaba of the results.

"In the 3 times of accelerated gameplay, an average of 4000 players have died before reaching endgame, and less than 1000 players actually ventured out of [Starting City]. In all three instances, your guild [Knights of the Blood] led the frontlines, although the majority of high level players did not belong to the guild. Notable players included [Kirito - the black swordsman], [Asuna the flash], the guild [Fuurinkazan], Thinker and Yulier from guild [The Army], [Argo the rat], [Agil the merchant], as well as the infamous PK guild [Laughing Coffin]" Rinko gave Kayaba her report, summarizing her findings.

"I see, so once again Kazuto-kun had managed to be the one who ultimately challenged me, it would seem that my intuition was correct. It is only fitting to have him be the player destined to bear the fate of the [Dual Blades] user. It's rather unfortunate that I have yet to see anything truly exceeding my system's design, I must say that I am quite nervous." Despite what seemed to be a failed experiment, Kayaba seemed pleased at the results.

"Unfortunately, in this instance I also noticed several issues that have begun to surface." RInko continued, "It would seem that by pushing simulated time passage to a maximum, our players minds have received tremendous stress. There is a 80% likelyhood that we will have players suffer irreparable brain damage if we were to run another simulated run."

Kayaba looked down and pondered for a moment, he had already accepted the fact that he was going to kill many innocents for the sake of his plan, but he did not want to lose lives meaninglessly.

"So I suppose this time will be the real deal. No more rehearsals..." Kayaba finally announced, "It is time for SAO, my lifelong project, to truly begin..."

"Understood, I will go to the server room to prepare the data and check for errors, and have everything ready in 15 minutes. In the meantime, please take a short break, I know you're tired." With a serious look, Rinko left Kayaba and headed for her computer station.

_It's now or never, I must find a way to help those people. At least decrease the number of deaths as far as I can._

Turning away from Rinko, Kayaba sat in his chair and meditated on the events leading to this destined day.

For ten years he had envisioned the floating castle of Aincrad, a land where he would be able to realize his dreams. Spending countless hours in research and development, he finally created the realm of his desires, but he always found something lacking.

Every time he logged into his realm, he would feel that he was returning to his long lost home, and yet a sense of loneliness would quickly hit him. He wanted to be able to live in this realm, to feel alive in the lands he created, and to feel the air of life in every breath. Yet the world was stagnant, its every detail acting precisely as programmed, never deviating from parameter nor glitching. It was all too perfect, yet it seemed too mechanical.

One year ago, he fled from Aincrad for his first time, logging into many MMORPGs as shelter, using the excuse of 'research' to run away. Yet in the many MMORPG's he found the solution, which was to make gamers live inside the game. It was a ridiculous idea, even Kayaba thought so himself, but if it were to work then his dream would be realized.

Working around the clock with minimal sleep, he tried to perfect the AI so that it would make the players feel the reality of the characters. He pretty much rewrote the top-down AI, naming the new system CARDINAL, and made the AI extremely responsive to player interaction. He was sure that this time it would work, and that SAO would be his dream come true.

Kayaba had his hopes obliterated in the Closed Beta of Sword Art Online. Even though the players were completely dedicated to the game, he did not find a single player that actually treated the game as if it was a part of life. There were many that came close, but in the end all the players saw SAO as was a wonderful way to past time and escape reality. At the end of the month the truth dawned on Kayaba, there was no way to make players live in SAO... unless they were forced to.

After the end of Closed Beta, Kayaba personally went through the records of each of the 1,000 beta-testers, he selected the ones most suitable for his grand scheme, and made sure they had incentive to come back. He knew that he was planning an unforgivable scheme, but he had no intention of quitting.

_Even if I give my life, I will follow through._

Noticing he had dozed off momentarily, Kayaba resumed operating his computer, this time turning to the news. Reports of the NERVEGEAR system triggering deaths had been sent out to all media channels two hours ago, and many have already begun relocating the victims to the hospital. Unfortunately there were still many incidents where families did not heed the warnings, leading to the players getting their brains fried by the microwaves.

Kayaba felt his heart stiffen as he realized that many innocents have already been killed by his deeds, even before the game had started. He decided to run several simulation runs in order to see if he could achieve his objectives without having more killed, but as expected the simulations did not produce what he needed. The only side benefit is that by the time of the 'tutorial', news will have spread out about the game's true nature, and hopefully less people will be committing suicide.

Before getting up and getting ready, Kayaba though about his destined rival.

_Now that this time is really a duel to the death, will you be able to surprise me? Kazuto-kun?_

**Prologue - Final Take**

Leaving Kayaba's office, Rinko heads into her office and accesses her personal computer. Logging onto her computer, Rinko quickly uploaded the file she prepared onto the server via the backdoor she prepared during the development stages of SAO. She was afraid that Kayaba would catch the code during the QA process, but it seemed that luck was by her side.

The file she uploaded contained a set of videos recorded several hours prior, showing the media's coverage of the SAO incident, as well as a press conference from the police and [SAO Case Victims Rescue Force]. If this video can successfully be shown to the players in game, hopefully it will provide the victims a little hope, resulting in less players being driven to desperation, and subsequent suicidal death. The main problem lay in the method of delivering the message, since Kayaba will be entering in the game shortly after.

Quickly running through her list of options in her mind, she decided to take a risk, by personally delivering the file to a player that might make a difference. She understood that by contacting the player she would be elevating their risk of death substantially, but she couldn't worry about that at this point in time. The list was down to two people, [Argo the rat] who will build up the largest information network in SAO, and the hero himself, [Kirito the Black Swordsman].

"Setup preparations are complete, everything is set to go" Returning to his office, Rinko informed Kayaba that SAO was ready to be put into service, this time for real.

"Perfect, let me make the final configurations then" Kayaba said as he turned to his computer screen.

[SAO Administrator Access Login:]

[User: Kayaba]

[Password: *******]

_[Login successful, Input Command?]_

[SetCommand="Logout" 0]

[SetGameMode Deathgame]

[SetTimeMultiplier 1.00]

[SetAincradDate 1.00]

[SetCharacterType="Heathcliff" 666]

[AddSkill="Kirito" 000f0dbb 31104000]

[SetAccount="Kayaba" 0 900]

[SetAdminAccess 0 900]

"Rinko, in 15 minutes I will disable all GM access, so please recheck all server conditions for me. I don't want to cheat in my own game, at least not too much." Kayaba requested of his assistant. Drinking the last sip of his water, the creator of SAO lay down on his chair and put on his NERVEGEAR.

"I'm running a final check as we speak." Rinko replied from here terminal, her fingers typing in commands quickly while she scanned each parameter. What her mentor did not notice was her increasing heartbeat, as she put her plan into action.

[SetTimeMultiplier 1000 15]

[SetTimeMultiplier 1.00 30]

[SetCharacterStarttime=all 30]

_This should buy me 30 seconds of real-time against everyone else, and let me achieve my mission._

[UploadFile= object "Hope"]

[AddCharacterItem="Rinko" "Hope"]

[AddCharacterItem="Rinko" 0010f0bffff]

_Hopefully this video will convince players not to kill themselves and at least wait for a while. I'll need to deliver the package to Kazuto-kun._

[SetCharacterStarttime="Rinko" 1]

[SetCharacterStartLocation="Rinko" "Horunka"]

[SetCharacterStarttime="Kirito" 1]

[SetCharacterStartLocation="Kirito" "Horunka"]

[AddSkill="Kirito" 000f0dbb 1 31104000]

[AddSkill="Kirito" 000f00db 1 0]

[AddSkill="Kirito" 000f00fb 1 0]

_With this I should be able to meet up with Kazuto-kun once the game starts. He'll also need to practice his dual blades skill, but I can't let anyone know he already knew it so I'll set it as hidden. As for the last two, it'll give him a secret skill once he masters it._

_I'm sorry for risking your life Kazuto-kun, but I think you would agree to risking yourself if it meant more lives could be saved. At least that's what the 'you' in your previous loops would want._

[SetAddAccount 1]

_I'm hoping that we'll receive outside help, though I doubt it. Doesn't hurt to leave the option enabled._

[LockAllSettings 1 900]

_**[This action cannot be reversed, please confirm: [Yes/No]**_

[Yes]

_I'm sorry for doing this Akihiko-san, I wasn't able to stop you. But at the very least, let me share your burden of sins, and lessen them as much as I can._

"All checks complete. Are you certain you want to do this?" Rinko asked her former lover, she couldn't stop him, but she wanted to ask him one last time whether he was determined to go that far in order to achieve his plan.

"Rinko, I appreciate you for all your help, you didn't need to get dragged into this. But I'm sure you already knew what I wanted to say, just as you know my answer right now. This is the purpose of my life, and even if it ends my life I cannot stop, not anymore." Kayaba calmly assured his assistant as he finished getting ready for his grand entry.

"Akihiko-san"

[StartGame 10]

10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4...

"One last thing: I don't think I've ever said this, but I trust that everything you do is for my sake. Even the last few commands you just inserted"

3...2...

"?!" Rinko was shocked speechless at Kayaba's last words, and was unable to reply. Although even if she did Kayaba would not have heard it.

1...0!

"Link Start." Kayaba silently announced the beginning of the game as he closed his eyes.

Despite being shocked by Kayaba's words, Rinko knew she didn't have time to lose, quickly running to her office where she prepared her own NERVEGEAR, she prepared to log into the system.

_Please let this work..._

"Link Start!"

As Kayaba's office was left to the humming of the running machines, nobody noticed the warning message that popped up on the monitor.

**[WARNING: SYSTEM EXCEPTION, ANOMOLY DETECTED]**


	6. Kirito - Link Start

**Phase 1: Kirito - Link Start!**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

A wave of nausea hit Kirito, causing him to almost lose consciousness. As if all his memories were put in a mixer, he couldn't remember anything between the moment he logged on and the present.

_Wait... didn't I __**JUST**__log in?_

As he cleared his mind, Kirito noticed that he wasn't in the [Starting City] that he was familiar with, but rather a black void with absolutely nothing around.

_Great... I got bugged the moment I logged in?!_

Reaching out his right hand, he performed the usual gesture that would bring out the menu, but to his dismay nothing came out.

_What? Guess I'm really bugged out here... that's not good... come to think of it, I'm completely helpless if something like this happens..._

Trying not to panic, Kirito moves his body as if he was rerunning the calibration routine, but even then he failed to bring up the system menu. All of a sudden, Kirito notices a shining orb of light in front of him, dancing around like a firefly in the middle of the night.

_I wonder what that is? It's like nothing I've ever seen, in SAO or anything other game..._

Upon close inspection, the orb of light resembled a cube in shape, but it was almost as if it was not existing in this plane of reality. It emitted a flicker that gave it three distinct shades as it was pulsating...

Kirito tried to walk towards the light, but he quickly realized that he couldn't, as if he was trapped in a zero-gravity area with no way to move. Completely helpless, Kirito watched as the light-cube floated towards Kirito, who reached his hands towards it.

Suddenly...

_[Kirito-kun]_

_[Kirito-san]_

_[Kii-bou]_

_[Onii-chan]_

_[Sayonara, Kazuto-kun]_

Visions flooded Kirito's senses, scenes he never knew, voices he never heard, people he never met. However, everything gave him a sense of reminiscence, as if it was a life he never knew he lived.

_ugh... what is all this?!_

_[Don't lose hope!]_

The light-cube slowly floated to Kirito's chest, and mysteriously dissolved into his body. At this moment Kirito's senses overflowed and all he could do was scream as he senses blacked out.

"ARGH!"

The next thing that came to Kirito's senses was the light breeze of wind brushing on his skin, the gentle ray of light on his face, and the occasional calls of the insects in the forest.

"What happened? Where am I?" Kirito moaned, as he tried to get up, his thoughts and memories completely hazy.

Looking around, Kirito quickly realized that this was nowhere near [Starting City], where he should have been. Instead he was somehow brought to the first place he wanted to go to, the place where he would be able to obtain the weapon that lasted him through the beta-test.

"Lucky! To think that I would start off at Horunka Village. Guess I shouldn't complain about the bugs after all."

Suddenly a vision hit Kirito, he knew that these weren't memories of the beta (he played solo all the time), but these visions were real.

_What is wrong with me? Is this a bug in the game? Can this game really do things like that?_

The vision was of how he was hunting Nepenthes alongside another player, a player who eventually tried to MPK Kirito so that he could hog the [Little Nepent's Ovule], but eventually died because the Nepenthes detected his hiding spot.

"Coper" Kirito muttle sub-consciously, startled that he even knew the player's name.

Trying to shake off the uneasiness of having weird visions, Kirito made his way to the cabin that gave the quest for his objective - the rewarded Anneal Blade. The NPC, a middle-aged woman, looked to Kirito as he passed through the door.

"Good evening journeying swordsman. Would you like a cup of water?"

"Please, and thank you" Kirito replied, he was used to the NPC's dialogue, but it didn't stop him from being polite to the inhabitants of this game.

As soon the golden question mark popped above the woman's head, Kirito triggered the quest.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Actually, there is a favor that I would like to ask of you. My daughter has fallen ill, and the best medicine in the village has been effective to cure her of her sickness. At this rate it is only a matter of time until I lose her, and I have no means to stop her. I have heard rumors that the only cure is a medicine that contains the ovules of the Nepenthes, but those plant are highly predatory and dangerous. Moreover, the ovule blooms are very uncommon, so I am completely at a lost as to what do to. Please, can you save my daughter? If you do so I'd gladly give you our family heirloom, a legendary sword passed down over generations."

Kirito felt a sense of nostalgia as the woman recited the lines, and almost forgot to respond.

"No problem, I will do so at once."

"Thank you, I feel better knowing that my daughter now has hope. Please, take these with you, these were my late-husband's armor, may they offer you the protection you need."

Kirito was surprised at this additional event that he didn't encounter in the closed beta, as the last time he was not given any items until the quest was complete.

"I must say that this is convenient... I wonder if I triggered this because I have no equipment on me. That being said, this equipment is almost as good as the stuff that I bought back in the beta, though it's durability is pretty low. Better make sure I don't get hit too much" Kirito exclaimed to himself, as he approaches the field where Nepenthes spawn.

Not forgetting that he just started playing, Kirito opened up my menu screen and confirmed his status. After equipping his new items, Kirito opens to the skills section. As expected of a level 1, only 2 skills slots were available, one was taken by the basic [One-handed Sword] skill that would be using for the rest of the game. After adding the [Searching] skill, Kirito suddenly notices something different. At the bottom of his skill list, there was a skill box that was shaded in a deep grey, instead of the light grey indicated a locked slot. Furthermore there were two skill boxes that were shaded in a dark red, raising the total skill boxes to 15.

_That's weird, I wonder if these are the special features that were added in the release._

Kirito pondered as he continued to examine the rest of his menus. Finally he reached the system menu and froze in horror.

**The [LOGOUT] button was missing!**

Pressing the [Contact GM] button, Kirito starts to feel a sense of unease.

_Things are getting weirder and weirder... something feels wrong..._

All of a sudden, a blue flame appears in front of Kirito, and out of it a woman in her late twenties steps out. Her clothing stood out like a sore thumb, as she wore a white lab coat, and her expression was definitely not one that a player would have.

_That was fast... guess the GM team is working overtime_

"We meet at last, Kirigaya Kazuto-kun. I am Koujiro Rinko, and I have come to tell you your fate."


	7. The Messenger of Fate

**Phase 1: The Messenger of Fate**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Note:**I never knew writing a fanfic was SOO hard... kudos to all that have achieved this feat... I'm sooo tempted to skip all this exposition and get to the juicy parts where I can let loose... but alas, SAO is a world where I can't skip out of the foundations, so bear with me for a bit more...

Kirito observed the new visitor, and quickly determined that she was probably a GM or part of the dev team. It was the only obvious conclusion since she knew his real name, among other obvious clues. Her greeting though, piqued him slightly.

"I don't exactly recall doing anything to warrant your attention, so what do you mean 'tell me my fate'?" Kirito inquired, a slight sense of hostility in his voice.

Rinko chuckled, as he did not expect SAO's destined savior to act like a rash runt, nonetheless she did not want to antagonize him considering the favor she was about to ask.

"I'm sorry Kirito-kun, it's just that your performance in the beta-test was impressive enough to cause us to notice." Rinko gave Kirito her answer, the praise causing the young swordsman to blush nervously, it would seem that Kirito was not used to being praised.

"As you may have noticed, you were spawned here not by a system fault, but by my intervention. It's hard to explain everything at once, but in a nutshell... 'The game just became reality'"

Kirito didn't understand what the woman was trying to say, but judging from her serious expression he decided not to interrupt.

"Around 3 hours ago, at 13:00 November 6th, 2022, all 10,000 SAO players logged into the SAO system with their NERVEGEAR. Instead of being transported directly into the game, all 10,000 players were put in a comatose state."

Upon hearing this, Kirito accessed his menu in shock, and realized that the clock was presently showing 16:30, three and a half hours since he logged in, and yet his memory only had around 30 minutes worth of memories.

"The reason for the delay was because the creator, Kayaba Akihiko, was performing tests pertaining to the system. What he did was important, but in a way it does not affect anything that matters from now on out."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Kirito asked, it was hard for him to accept that there was something more problematic than having 10,000 players stuck in a comatose state for 3 hours.

"It means that the events from now on will be paramount in importance. As I have mentioned before, SAO has become a reality, quite literally. All 10,000 players that joined SAO's public release, are now trapped inside the game until it is completed."

Kirito was used to playing MMORPG's with grand schemes, so he has heard a large variety of advertising. However, not once has a GM summoned him personally to give him his 'fate'. At a loss of words, he waits for Rinko to continue.

"I suppose you're a little confused as to believe me or not, so I prepared this video from the real world." Rinko streches out her hand, and the object 'hope' materializes in the form a recording crystal.

Taking the crystal, Kirito presses the 'play' button, and the crystal projects a virtual screen the size of a 60" TV.

**"[Sword Art Online] imprisons players. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE NERVEGEAR!"**

"We now bring you breaking news. Chaos had spread in the media as the first Virtual MMORPG system has turned into an act of terrorism. 10,000 players have been forcefully confined in what promises to be the first virtual online game!"

"Minutes after the activation of the online game, a message was sent to all media organizations, hospitals, the police, and even the SDF. Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of the virtual game system, had used the system to imprison the 10,000 participants in his own game. He also warns that anyone attempting to disarm the NERVEGEAR system will cause the player to be killed."

"Reports soon surfaced about the incident, confirming Kayaba's claims about the NERVEGEAR being a deadly device able to terminate the life of its wearer. Police have established a [SAO case victims rescue force], and have located all 10,000 players. Unfortunately, 213 victims were already lost."

"The game, Sword Art Online, was promised to be the forerunner of future online gaming, and had the entire world paying attention to its progress. All 10,000 copies provided for initial Japan-exclusive release were purchased within seconds of opening, with fans lining up weeks in advance. The hype was so great that it was reported that several foreigners became Japanese citizens to play the game..."

At this point Kirito turned off the recorder, and glared at the GM.

"Why?"

"Because I was unable to stop him. I could not bring myself to kill him in exchange for the saving of the 10,000 live." Rinko whispered, her face full of regret, and her tears on the verge of flowing.

"..." Kirito's anger subsided in an instant, as he realized the truth of his summoning.

"So you want me to save as many as I can inside the game, is that it?"

"Yes. Soon Kayaba will summon all the players for the [Tutorial], in which he will give the truth of the game as well as exposing everyone's original appearances via the [Handheld Mirror]. Still, there will be many that don't believe his story, so I need your help in persuading as many people as possible to prevent their suicide"

"I understand this video will prove that the game is deadly, but that's assuming the players trust me. How will I prove that my word is worth believing, if they doubt Kayaba's words?"

Rinko materialized the second part of her package, and hands it to Kirito.

"Inside contains several items that you can use to assist you. The players will be devastated after the [tutorial], so you'll need to act as my champion, to show the players that someone in the real world is trying to save the players, and not to give up hope."

Kirito materializes one of the new items in his inventory, revealing the original reward of the quest he was doing - an [Anneal Blade] +10, exceeding the allowed upgrade limit of +8. The durability of the sword was completely abysmal though, so it probably was useless in combat.

"You will use this sword to prove that you are the one that was selected, and try to convince the players to conquer the game. Let them know that the game can be cleared, and even if all you can do is plant a seed of hope, then my objective will be complete"

"..."

Kirito did not answer, trying to understand the extent of the request. In essence, Rinko was requesting that he expose himself as a beta-tester, a cheater, then leading the players to victory. He had no doubt that the act itself was suicidal at best, and if SAO was indeed a deathgame the suicidal part would be quite literal.

" I know this will be a hard part on you, and may put unnecessary responsibilities on your shoulders, but all I ask you is to try your best. Believe it or not, I know what kind of person you are and will become, and I have faith in you."

Clenching his hands that would be sweat covered if it was real life, Kirito made his first decision in SAO, a decision that would reshape his destiny.

"Very well, I accept your request"

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart Kazuto-kun" Rinko finally smiled for the first time. "Now since this is a GM request, and I am confident in your success, I will give you your rewards in advance."

Kirito noticed his menu popping up, and the skills tab opening. The bottom two red boxes now displayed [Dark Blade] and [Holy Blade], and the dark grey box above showed [Dual Blades].

"Kayaba originally assigned the [Dual Blades] skill to you, activating around 1 year in the future. I have now activated the skill for you, so that you can start levelling the skill, however you will not have access to the advanced sword skills until 1 year later. Think of it as a hidden skill.

The two skills [Dark Blade] and [Holy Blade] will only be activated once you reach full mastery, as they are powerful skills and I cannot allow Kayaba to realize you have these skills until then. To level the two skills above you need these orbs."

As Rinko explains the new skills to Kirito, she materializes two orbs of light, one glowing white and one that resembles a black void.

As Kirito receives the two orbs, he opens the menu of the orb and notices two functions, [Attach] and [Absorb]

"In order to use the orbs, bring a weapon to the orb, then click on the orb and select [Attach], at this point the weapon will absorb essence on everything it cuts. If you have good weapons that have reached the end of their usefulness, you can also [Absorb] the weapon into the orb itself. It will take a long time to master each skill, but the two skills will be essential to clearing the game."

Kirito takes out his basic sword and attaches the [Orb of Light] onto it, the sword glows white for a short while then reverts to its original appearance.

"The three skill boxes will be hidden to everyone, so you do not need to worry. Even if Kayaba was looking over your shoulder he would not see a thing. We still have a little time, so I can help you level a little before the game officially starts, maybe if you're lucky you can land another [Anneal Blade]"

Rinko materializes a bag or restoration crystals, and starts heading for the field. She then remembers something and turns around

"By the way, there's one more important piece of information. Kayaba monitors the game throu..."

**[WARNING: SYSTEM EXCEPTION, ANOMOLY DETECTED, INCOMING ENTITY!]**

Suddenly a warning message appears in the sky above the field, and warning chimes start ringing.

"What is going on? We should be the only players in the game right now. I'm going to inspec-"

Rinko's voice is cut short by a red flash that pierces her body, her body flies through the air and shatters into countless shards of polygons.

"?!" Kirito draws his blade and immediately assumes a combat stance, his instincts telling him that the enemy must be close by.

Nothing but the sound of the wind, the presence of the entity that destroyed the GM just vanished. The bugs around the area had stopped calling, and as the wind receded an eerie silent saturated the field where Kirito was talking to the GM a while ago.

Kirito grips his blade nervously, his nerves reaching the point of collapse, his world just got flipped upside down, and he hasn't even figured what had just happened.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?!" a loud roar is let out in frustration.

_Rinko said she and I were the only ones in the game at the moment, so she should have prevented the login of everyone else. However, for that attack to be able to kill a GM in one hit, it must have been from another high-rank GM, or worse the SAO creator himself._

_But if the GM wanted to get rid of me, there would have been no way for me to escape. The only explanation is that whoever it was wanted to stop Rinko to expose information about Kiyaba... she mentioned something about Kiyaba monitoring the game, what was she trying to talk about?_

Kirito's thoughts were cut short when he heard a loud exploding sound from the field of Nepenthes. He instantly recognized it as the popping of a seed, a deathtrap meant to draw countless Nepenthes towards the player.

Looking around quickly, he located the Little Nepent that the held the seed, it was only 20m away from his position. Kirito's feet moved before his mind, pulling him into a full sprint towards the opposite direction, but only for a second.

_I'm surrounded!_

Kirito realized that escape was no longer possible, and instinctively drew his other blade without even recognizing it. His body reacted as if he had been trained to do so all his life.

_?! Why did I do that? I can't use sword skills if I have two blades drawn... can I?_

His question was quickly answered when the first Nepenthes charged towards him, Kirito's experience compelled him to habitually dodge and execute a [Slant] attack. The attack cleanly cut the monster in two, and the plant shattered like glass.

_I guess it does work, and I guess this [Anneal Blade +10] isn't just for show either._

Focusing on his enemies now, Kirito cleared his thoughts as the next mob came charging. Dodging the strike just as he had done, he sliced the second Nepenthes into oblivion, just as the third one charged towards him.

_Not good, it came from the other side._

Panicking, Kirito swings his left sword, activating [Uppercut] by accident, the third mob soars into the air before plummeting back on the ground and shattering.

_Impossible_, _how did I do that? Or more like, why does it feel SO NATURAL?_

Kirito's surprise was cut short as he noticed his predicament, he was going to have to solo at least 200 Nepenthes if he was to survive. Collecting his thoughts, he decides to trust his body, and charges at the Nepenthes, trying to carve a way through to salvation.

Almost one hour later, an exhausted Kirito lies on the floor, ignoring the system notice indicating his level-up. He had luckily spotted Rinko's bag containing 5 restoration crystals, and they turned out to be lifesavers. In retrospect, the crystals should have been saved for boss battles or later levels, but in this death-game there was no respawn, and he wasn't about to die to a low-level mob.

Finally, Kirito opened his status screen, he had gained three levels fighting the Nepenthes, and depleted the durability of both his swords. Putting away the swords, Kirito switched to the status screen and added his stat points - 50% to STR (strength) and 50% to AGI (agility). Looking at the skill screen, he noted that both his [One-hand Sword] skill and [Searching] skill had improved, and the three shaded boxes at the bottom had disappeared.

Suddenly, Kirito felt a presence directly behind him. He turns around rapidly, but is frozen half-turn.

**"So this is the one..."**

**"Yes...Kirito ... is... special..."**

**"Indeed, to detect us with such a low [Searching] skill... but we must not be seen"**

**"No... must... not... harm... him..."**

**"True, not yet. But as he is right now the game balance will be disturbed"**

Before Kirito could begin to figure out what was happening, his body suddenly lost all strength. As his consciousness faded, he could barely make out the words of his assailants.

**"System Call. PlayerLevelReset Kirito"**

**"System Call: PlayerDeleteSkill Kirito Searching"**

**"System Call: ..."**


	8. Interlude - Rinko-side

**Phase 1: Interlude - Rinko-side**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**[Location: Real World - Kayaba's Hidden Cottage]**

"ARGH" Koujiro Rinko let out a scream as she woke up from her [Full Dive]

Regaining her composure, she took off her NERVEGEAR and got up from her chair. She looked at the clock, and realized that only several seconds had passed since she entered SAO due to the accelerated time settings that would last for around ten more seconds.

At this time, the main game of SAO would have commenced, and all the players would have been inserted, along with Kayaba's avatar. She turned to see that her NERVEGEAR had burned out, and considered herself fortunate that the malfunction did not get her killed.

_What happened though? One moment I was talking to Kazuto-kun, and the next moment all I felt was a jolt, and then I'm back here._

Checking her computer, she recalls the message that occurred in the field where she and Kirito was at. The computer had a pop-up message, the same message as what she saw before.

_Anomoly detected? I wonder what that is?_

Typing on the keyboard, Rinko attempts to access the file system, and to her surprise she was unable to.

_Access denied? I though I still had 15 minutes before all GM access was blocked?_

Attempt to re-login, Rinko quickly discovered that her account had been locked out, and furthermore all GM access was declined, to everyone - including Kayaba.

_This is definitely not normal, I pray that Akihiko-san knows of the irregularities and is able to fix it._

Rinko picks up a voice recorder, and starts recording a message into it.

"My name is Koujiro Rinko, I am Kayaba Akihiko's assistant, and co-developer of the virtual online game [Sword Art Online]. I am delivering this package in order to assist the victims of the game attempt to return to their lives.

I have successfully enabled the [add account] function, and have provided the access address in the attached data disc. Unfortunately the system has been set so that it will no longer accept registration from address corresponding to NERVEGEAR hardware systems. Unfortunately this applies to the experimental hardware AMUSPHERE as well, so there are very limited ways to access the server at this time.

Furthermore, we have encountered a problem that neither the creator, Kayaba Akihiko, nor I have experienced, I will continue to monitor the system, and hopefully a contingency plan can be formulated."

Finishing the recording, she places it into a envelop addressed to the police.


	9. New Game (Plus ?)

**Phase 1: New Game**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

Kirito opened his eyes, still unsure whether this was reality or a dream. It had not been the first time he had headaches or nightmares, and it didn't seem like it was going to be the last.

In front of him stood countless rows of medieval houses, the lamppost-lined streets of stone leading to a giant arena in the middle of the town he was all so familiar with - [Starting City]. Kirito is suddenly overcome with emotion, and two words leaked out from his mouth.

"I'm back"

_That was a heck of a dream that I had back there, where I met this GM and got almost killed by the Nepenthes. I guess I must be suffering some kind of withdrawal symptom on the sub-conscious level or something. Maybe I should see a doctor later on once I log off._

Kirito starts walking down the pathway towards the shop where he would equip himself, when he notices something wrong with his attire. He was not wearing beginner robes, and he could feel that the weight of his sword was not normal. Summoning his status screen, Kirito awaited to confirm what he feared - that the dream was true.

_Nothing is making sense anymore, how did I get back here, did I get teleported by a GM? Why is my level back at level 1, and my [Searching] skill has been deleted. I recall sensing a presence behind me and all of a sudden I was knocked out cold, but even then my level should not have been reset. Something is definitely fishy, and I bet it's got something to do the GM, I guess I shouldn't try to contact them again._

Suddenly, a tap on Kirito's shoulder causes him to jump up in surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry for surprising you. I'm new to this game, and would like to ask you for a few pointers." In front of Kirito was an avatar that resembled a red-haired samurai from the Sengoku period.

_Klein? huh, how's that?_

"Almost forgot, my name is Klein, so what's yours?"

"Kirito"

"Great, nice to meet you Kirito! You look like you know what you're doing, and I'm guessing the 'I'm back' means you've played in the beta? So , what'd you say, can you teach me a few things please? "

"Uh... sure, let's head to the weapon shop first"

Kirito, not used to dealing with straight-ball guys like Klein, got dragged along Klein's pace. All the while, he felt a strong sense of nostalgia and happiness.

"I suppose a curved blade would suit you, and maybe later you'd like to switch to a katana." Kirito said, selecting the basic armor and items for Klein.

"OK, let's go! Time to hunt for the first time!"

Kirito couldn't help but smile as Klein was jumping around like a kid who had gotten his first toy.

_I sure wish Rinko told me was not true, it'd be terrible to make people like Klein suffer. I guess I'll find out soon though..._

Out in the fields just outside [Starting City], Kirito was teaching Klein the basics of [Sword Skills]. Though it was difficult at first, it appeared that Klein's former MMORPG experience helped him greatly, and he was improving at a rapid pace.

"Oh YEAH! Take that you oversized bacon!" Klein shouted as his [Slant] skill connected with the [Frenzy Boar], reducing it to a cloud of polygons.

Kirito let out a chuckle as Klein gave his victory shout, it seemed he had mastered the technique of using sword skills during normal combat. All that remained was for him to get used to activating during stressful periods such as boss battles, if he passed that trial then Klein would probably fit right into the ranks of clearing party.

_It looks like we'll be needing all the people we can get..._

"Good job Klein, are you ready to move onto the next step, we'll try to fight together against a small group of mobs. Make sure we watch each others' movements, and jump in to support if the mobs catch us unprepared."

"Let's GO!" Klein answered enthusiastically.

Half an hour later, Kirito had returned to level 2, and Klein was almost reaching his first level-up. Kirito was very impressed at Klein's ability to fight in the game, and the two of them managed to clear the spawn at a rate Kirito found to be surprising.

"Just a bit more... BOOYEAH! LEVEL UP!" Klein shouted as he jumped in the air.

"Good, now I'll show you how to add your stat points and skill points" Kirito opens his stat window and walks over to show Klein how to attribute his points.

"2 to STR and 1 to AGI sounds good, and I suppose I'll take [Searching] for my first skill. I've got a bunch of friends that joined the game with me, so I'll be the spotter and leader. Got to look out for my friends right?" Klein mentions to Kirito, as he finishes allocating his stat points.

"That's a good idea, usually if you're leading a group you'll want to be able to coordinate your party members and make sure you're not walking into an ambush. You'll also want to assign at least one member to act as a shield to go with you, but then again I'm sure you're familiar with building characters in a group. A balanced party goes a long way to keeping yourself alive, as well as sufficient information and proper equipment." Kirito replied, trying to visualize Klein leading his group of friends to battle on the frontlines.

"By the way, Kirito, did you get that weapon from the beta-test? It looks different from my [Small Sword]" Klein suddenly asked. Kirito was shocked at the question, as he didn't even remember he was still equipping his [Anneal Blade].

"Uh, yeah, it was sort of a present from beta... there's more to it but I don't know if you really want to find out." Kirito replied, carefully observing the expression of his leveling partner.

"So I guess being in the beta does have its perks. So is this a unique? Or will we get this weapon soon as well?"

"Well, you won't get this one, but the same blade can be obtained around level 3 or so. We can start the quest later today if you want.

"Sounds great, since I'm going to meet my friends later on today, would you like to tag along? We can go as a group and get everyone that weapon."

Kirito felt a little uneasy meeting Klein's friends, since he might not get along with them, and in turn affect his friendship with Klein. Heading as a large group to Horunka village was also a dangerous move, if any of Klein's friends were to fall during the journey... Kirito shivered at the thought of seeing Klein's hateful glare in the case that happened.

Before he declined, Kirito suddenly remembered the deceased GM, Rinko's words "Do not regret your decisions", and realized that he would probably regret not meeting Klein's friends afterwards. He decides to give himself a chance to meet Klein's friends, before deciding whether or not to travel with them.

"Sure, send me a message when you're about to join them, I'll meet you around the town centre." Kirito replied Klein, then as if remembering something, he navigates his menus quickly, and a pop-up message appears in front of Klein.

[Kirito requests to add you as a friend, accept?]

**[YES]**

"Cool, you're my first bud! I'll be in your care Kirito!"

"uh... sure, same to us both." Kirito replied, slightly nervous since he's not used to Klein's over-the-top friendliness.

"I guess I'm going to grab a bite, my pizza should be here any time. I'll see you around Kirito, and thanks again for teaching me the ropes. Be seeing you around." Klein waves to Kirito as he summons his menu to log out.

"..." Kirito didn't know how to respond, because he knew Klein's pizza had already been delivered and is probably in the garbage by now.

"HUH?! The logout button's GONE!" Klein's shouts in surprise.

As if on-cue to Klein's surprise, the clouds suddenly turn red. A chime echoed throughout the plains, and a message appeared:

***ding *ding [SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]**


	10. The Tutorial

**Phase 1: The Tutorial**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

Kirito and Klein stared at the [System Announcement] screen silently. It was not uncommon for an online game to have an system announcement, but this one seemed to be overly dramatic.

Suddenly, a blue pillar of light encompassed both players, and they found themselves forcibly teleported back to the starting point - the central arena of [Starting City]. Looking around, they noticed that all the other players seemed to have been teleported here as well.

"Kirito, what's happening? Do you hear anything about this?"

"Yeah... I never believed it myself, but it looks like the worst case scenario..."

"Huh... I don't get it..." As Klein muttered in confusion, Kirito pointed his finger to the sky, where a robed figure was materializing.

_If what Rinko said was true, then this figure can only be one person._

The robed figure floated above the center of the arena, its red robes flowing in the vortex of air. An ominous aura permeated the entire arena, as the figure opened his mouth and explained the 'real nature' of the game. **_(Author's Endnote #1)_**

**"Players, I welcome you to MY world"**

**"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world."**

**"As most of you have realized, the [Log Out] button has disappeared from the menu, this is NOT a bug, but the true nature of [Sword Art Online]"**

**"Until you get to the top of my castle, you cannot log out of your free will."**

**"I ask of you all to understand that [Sword Art Online] is no longer a simple game. It is a second reality... From now on, any form of revival in the game will no longer work. The moment your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever. And at the same time the NERVEGEAR will microwave your brain and destroy it. Due to tampering of the NERVERGEAR, Regretfully 213 players have already exited this game, and the real world ... FOREVER."**

Listening to the creator's words, Kirito could understand why people would doubt his words. It was too farfetched a theory.

**" I am sure that many of you do not believe what I am saying. I will now show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inventories, there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this"**

Noting the mirror had appeared in his inventory, Kirito realized it was almost his time to try and prevent as many deaths as possible. For some odd reason Kirito felt calm, as if he knew what was going to happen. He watched as all the players revert to their real form in real life, and the mass panic that resulted. He had not used his mirror to reveal his true face, as he needed his persona to finish his quest given to him from Rinko.

**"Players, I hope that you know understand that you are no longer playing as a character in this game. This is no longer a game, but reality, YOUR reality"**

Kirito equipped his Anneal Blade and jumped off the tower in the middle of the arena, using it as a jump-board to launch a [Slant] attack at the creator. As expected, a purple [Immortal Object] sign blocked his path, and he lands back on to the floor.

**"This is surprising, I see we have someone with a little too much vigor here" **Kayaba's voice echos amusingly, through his robes Kirito notices what appears to be a grin on Kayaba's face.

"My name is Phantom, and as the champion of the beta players, I demand answers from you!" Kirito shouts, holding his [Anneal Blade +10] at the creator.

All the players stared at Kirito, their attention drawn to him due to his sudden attack at the creator. He had successfully stopped the panic, and become the focus of everyone's attention.

"I represent the GM team that is now aware of your wrongdoings, and I am here to show their intent at stopping you at all cost. As we speak, a team of specialists that are working around the clock to crack your game. I was given this sword, an [Anneal Blade +10], as prove that they were able to surpass your protection, and that we will soon be freed from your prison."

**"Very well, but understand that I did not spend 10 years developing this game without sufficient protection. Know that the server will be fully locked from access very soon, and once that happens even the best of hackers will be unable to access the server. I guarantee you, if you do not succeed by tomorrow morning then I have won this round, and you will have no choice but to follow the rules of this world"**

Kirito returns to his sword to its sheath, and allows Kayaba to continue.

**"As I can guarantee you that there will be no rescue there is only one way to be freed from this game. As I have said before, you must get to the top of Aincrad, the one hundredth floor, and defeat the final boss that resides there. All players still alive at that time will be immediately logged out of the game. I give you all my word."**

**" At this point I have finished the official tutorial for «Sword Art Online». Players—I wish you luck."**

Finishing his speech, Kayaba's robed figures dissolves into red droplets, and evaporates into the sky. Kirito starts seeing visions of people panicking, and prepares himself to depart into the next city, however the panic never occurred.

Looking around, he notices that he had become the center of attention, now that the GM has exited the arena. Understanding the situation, he takes out the video recording that was given to from Rinko, and starts talking aloud.

"As I mentioned before, I was contacted by a GM team that opposed Kayaba's doings. They are working hard to crack SAO's servers and return us to reality. Unfortunately, what Kayaba had announced in the tutorial is 100% true."

Quickly activates the recording file, and maximizes the size of projection. He watches the players fall into despair as the video once again confirms Kayaba's statement.

"I urge players NOT to commit in any rash action, as it is possible that we will be rescued soon. In the unfortunate event that the rescue fails, understand at least this: 'If you die here, you die in real life'."

Within the silent crowd, a lone voice suddenly posed a question.

"What will you do then? As self-proclaimed champion of the beta test, and a player that carries equipment that is boarder-line cheating."

Echo's of memories that shouldn't exist surfaced in Kirito's mind

**_"You are just a cheater"_**

**_"Beaters like you don't have the right to join us"_**

**_"Beater! Cheater!"_**

Kirito cleared his throat.

"Yes, I am a beta-cheater. A "beater" as you may call me. So there's only one obvious thing for

a beater like me needs to do - BEAT THE GAME."

"..."

The crowd stays silent at my announcement, as if waiting for Kirito to continue. However, Kirito has long surpassed his anxiety tolerance, he had never spoke in front of a crowd and was on the verge of losing his composure.

"If anyone want to die in real life, then go right ahead. For those who still value themselves, and want to give a chance at their life, then I will see you tomorrow, right here at 09:00"

Leaving behinds those words, Kirito walks through the crowds and back into the alley, ignoring the commotion that followed.

_Was that enough? _He thought to himself, but the realization that he tried his best somehow uplifted the heavy burden in his heart.

All of a sudden he receives a message from the only person in his friends list.

[Meet me at the weapons NPC]

"Man, Kirito, that was not funny at all... so you've been hiding all that from me eh?"

The red-headed samurai, actually he looked more like a bandit now, spoke to Kirito

"..." Kirito remained silent, expecting the upcoming scorn from his ex-friend to be.

"But man, you were WAY cool there, with the cool guy act and all. I bet you're one of those popular guys that say everything right in real life."

Kirito was speechless at the shock, unable to decide whether it's due to the fact that Klein didn't seem to hate him, or the fact that Klein has the completely wrong impression of his real life self.

"Uh... not really... I'm actually pretty socially awkward in life, and I'm definitely not popular or manly..." Kirito mumbled, his expression definitely out-of-character with his avatar.

"By the way, you haven't used the [Handheld Mirror] yet have you. Promise me that you'll let me hang around when you use the mirror?"

"Uh... sure..."

"Anyways, that Kayaba said was the truth right? So in that case we'd better not get ourselves killed in the game. I've already met up with my buddies in real life, and we've decided to fight for our freedom."

"..." Kirito wasn't sure what do say, he knew Klein wanted to invite him to his group of friends, and that would increase everyone's chances at survival. However if he joined Klein, his leveling speed would be greatly reduced, and in this game where resources and leveling spots are limited...

Klein broke the silence with something that Kirito didn't expect:

"I originally wanted to ask you to guide us for a while, but I understand that in an MMORPG the first day is always a battle. Now that this game has just turned real, the resource battle will be even more deadly. I can't drag you down just because our group needs you, just promise that we'll meet again OK?"

"?!" Kirito was once again astounded by what Klein said, as well as the implications. He realized that Klein placed Kirito at the same level as his friends in real life, and that he was not another 'online friend' that he had just met. At this moment Kirito made his decision.

"Klein, tell your group to meet me tomorrow at 8:00, in the central arena."

"No way! You're helping us out? Thanks a million! You're a real pal" Klein replied in surprise.

"As for now, you're coming with me." Kirito continued, as he grabbed hold of Klein's arm, almost dragging Klein with him as he headed to the exit of the city.

"Huh? Where are we going?"

"To get ourselves [Anneal Blades], it's going to be tough so I'll need your help. You'd better get yourself in shape too if you want to lead your group and survive."

"Huh? Wha~?!" The sound of Klein's surprise echoed in the silent street of [Starting City], as the two swordsmen became the first to venture out into the world of SAO.

**[Surviving Players: 9797]**

**Endnote #1:** In this fanfic Kayaba describes the tutorial exactly as he does in the LN. I just took the important bits and then made changes. If you want to view the full tutorial, please refer to the great translators at BT who translated the novel.


	11. Interlude - Kayaba-side

**Phase 1: Interlude - Kayaba-side**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author's Notes:**

Another short side-chapter to show a different perspective. I'll let you guys figure out whether it was Kayaba that took Rinko out of the game.

Anyways, I'll be away from home for a few days, so I might not be updating regularly... Thanks for following the story so far.. I promise I'll move out of canon material as soon as I can... And as always... R&R please :)

**[Date: Nov 6, 2022]**

**[Aincrad Standard Time: 19:00]**

**[Location: 100 Floor]**

Kayaba Akihiko sat in his throne, observing a video recording of the "Tutorial" that occured just a few moments ago. He was not at all frustrated that his tutorial was disturbed, but rather he was in very high spirits.

"It seems that Rinko's plans have made some changes to the game, something that I look very forward to seeing the results." Kayaba spoke to nobody in particular, but it seemed that he enjoyed doing so.

"Kirito performed quite admirably, and I'm pretty sure he saved a few extra lives with that little act of his. I wouldn't have imagined that he was going to do something like that, especially not in the first day. It was definitely a stroke of fortune, that he ended up as a player."

Looking away from the screen, Kayaba places his attention on a warning message that occured before the game start.

"But still, the most interesting thing is this. It surpasses even my ability to control, and is completely out of expectation or prediction. Perhaps this is the elusive goal that my life was meant to pursue..."

Facing a ecstatic Kayaba, a system message glows in the dark:

**[System Exception: Anomaly Detected]**


	12. Training - Horunka Village

**Phase 2: Training - Horunka Village**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

HELP NEEDED: Anyone want to beta my fanfic? Winword is driving me insane and I'm bound to make grammar errors. (Last time I almost fell asleep on my keyboard, and then realized that I was writing in 1st person for half of the story... lol fail...)

Kirito and Klein travelled the forest path to [Horunka Village] quickly, avoiding the monsters to the best of their ability. As both of there were still level 2, engaging in mobs while travelling could pose a danger to them, so they tried their best to avoid detection. While travelling Kirito told Klein about how he met Rinko, a GM that wanted to thwart Kayaba's plans, how she had contacted Kirito, and her subsequent 'death'.

"So what you're saying is that there is no GM that's about to rescue us, and that we're pretty much on our own? Man, that's a bummer." Klein gasped.

"Unfortunately, that's pretty much the reality. That's why we have to strengthen ourselves, to make sure we do not fall prey to this game. Which is why we're going to [Horunka Village], there is a quest that gives the blade that I have - the [Anneal Blade]."

Arriving at [Horunka Village], Kirito brings Klein to the armor shop.

"First thing you should do is upgrade your equipment, but don't put your equipment on yet, I want to try something." Kirito instructs Klein to purchase a [Buckler], as well as [Light Leather Armor].

"Honestly, I'm not too fond of shields... it looks sort of lame..." Klein protested.

"Later on you'll be able to choose different types of one-handed-swords, but until then it's safer to have a shield at hand. Not to mention our stat points are not well suited at this moment." Kirito retorted. "By the way, you should buy some equipment for your friends as well. Catch"

Klein barely has time to react when Kirito tosses him a bag of coins. He opened the bag and counted 2000 col - pretty much as much money as he had, then looked at Kirito with disbelief.

"We'll earn more money later, but right now we need to buy your friends equipment and get leveling. Unfortunately I can't get everyone an [Anneal Blade] since the quest drop is pretty rare, but hopefully we should be able to get at least one each."

Klein nodded in silence, then quickly purchased the equipment for his friends. He had told them to stay in town tonight, and that they'd meet tomorrow at 0830 with Kirito. Finishing up, Klein and Kirito headed to the cabin where the lady was still stirring the pot of medicine for his daughter.

Instructing Klein to head into the room, Kirito spent the spare time eyeing the area, and noticed no sign of other players in the area. Finally alone and having some spare time to think, Kirito recalled the last moments he spend with his family.

"Sorry mom... for making you worry about me... Sorry Sugu, for ignoring you all the time, and now being unable to see you . I promise that I'll get stronger, I'll survive, and I'll come back."

Wiping the tears in his eyes, Kirito returned to his normal self, just as Klein came out of the cabin. Klein was not wearing the same equipment he received at the cabin when he first arrived.

"Kirito, you were right, the lady gave me a new set of clothes and some potions, it's as you said.!" Klein exclaimed joyfully.

_Well that's good news, I just verified a pretty nice piece of quest bonus information. Now if Argo's still around I might be able to sell it to her._

Kirito points to himself indicating 'my turn', and walks into the cabin. To his surprise, the quest marker on top of the lady showed a "!" (Quest Completion) instead of a "?" (Quest Available).

Opening his inventory, Kirito notices something incredible - his inventory contained 3 "Little Nepents Ovule". Collecting his reward, Kirito notices that the lady no longer had a quest icon above her head, and that he would be unable to obtain another [Anneal Blade]. Content with the facts, Kirito walks out to of the cabin and talks to Klein.

"Klein, bring this to the lady inside, it'll complete your quest. I didn't even know I had an extra, maybe the GM gave it to me?" Kirito told a white lie to Klein, since he didn't even know how to describe the events that led to him getting the Ovules.

"Man, Kirito, you're making this too easy for me. Heh.. you'll get me killed one day because I'm going to underestimate the enemy..." Klein joked to Kirito, who quickly gave him a stern stare in response.

"Well, if you insist, we're going to hit a bunch of harder mobs right after you get back."

"(GULP)... you're joking right? Give me a break..." Klein complains as he goes back into the cabin.

Fifteen minutes later, both Klein and Kirito have reached level 3, effectively becoming the highest leveled players in the game. Finishing off the last Nepenthes in the spawn, Klein collapses on the floor, heaving from the sudden break in action. Kirito on the other hand, is barely fazed.

"Man, Kirito you're too much. For a few times, I thought I was going to die there" Klein lay on the ground, complaining about Kirito's training regime.

"Sorry, I got carried away there... " Kirito laughed as he got ready for the next batch of mobs.

"I swear it's unfair that you have such a good weapon to use." Klein complained

"Well, how about we switch?" Kirito handed his sword to Klein

"Nice, let me try this out..." Klein grinned as he prepared to fire a [slant] into empty air.

"Huh? It's not activating... [weapon can only be used by registered owner?] What's this?"

Kirito took back the sword in surprise, he never knew of such a feature in the beta, though it would make sense in a public release. He wasn't sure whether this was caused because of him merging the orb onto the sword, or whether it was because the sword was given to him to Rinko.

"Honestly, I'm not too sure, maybe it's because the sword's a special edition?"

"I'm starting to get just a little jealous of you, Mr. Champion of Aincrad..." Klein puts his hand on his palm, as he finds his friend quite unbelievable, irritating unbelievable.

"Trust me, if I could I would trade with you any day... Anyways, if you're tired you can take a break if you want, just stay here and watch my back."

Getting back on his feet, Klein replied his slightly over-energetic partner, "Can't let you have all the fun, right?" With that, the two continued to hunt the mobs in the area, an activity that would become routine if they were to survive in this game.

As they continue to fights mobs, Kirito occasional took glances at Klein's fighting style. He noticed that Klein was really getting in the groove of fighting, and that his sword skills were activating with less delay than before. He also noticed something else though, something about his style of fighting.

"Klein, later on, once you get to around level 5 or so, they will be an option to use the 'curved blade' type of weapon. Those weapons will usually be faster and lighter, and usually rely on dodging attacks over blocking with a shield. I've noticed that you dodge a lot more than you block, so maybe you could look into that route later on." Kirito started talking to Klein in the middle of the fight.

Klein, dodging the attack, barely manages to reply with a "Really?", before concentrating back on the fight. His fighting style was quite refreshing, since he seldom chipped away at the enemy, instead relying on a well placed hit to finish the enemy. It was as if his style was meant to hold a katana, striking away at his foes with lightning slashes and deadly accuracy.

Finishing yet another spawn, Kirito rubs his head as he apologizes to Klein. " Sorry for distracting you during the fight. So as I was saying, you should try out using a 'curved blade' type of weapon once you reach level 5 or, since you don't really need a shield when you dodge the enemy all the time."

"Yeah, I was actually thinking about that while I was fighting. The shield was getting in the way all the time, though it came in handy a few times. Why don't I drop the shield right away?" Klein said, ready to put his shield.

"You might want to get a few more points into the stats first, since we're still pretty weak."

"True, I almost forgot about that. Which reminds me, Kirito, what other styles of fighting are there?" Klein suddenly asked Kirito

"Well, I actually don't know the actually amount, since SAO's most significant feature is the abundance of skills. The types that I know off the top of my head are 1-hand weapons, subclassed into straight blade, curved blade, blunts, and misc; same for 2-hand weapons, then there are other types of weapons including hand-to-hand, projectile and others I don't know about..." Kirito started rambling over the types of weapons he remembered from the beta.

"Are there any players using two daggers or swords or something like that?"

"Well, we tried in the closed beta test, but found out that we can't activate sword skills in those scenarios. I'm not sure if it's because we haven't met the necessary prerequisites though. To be honest, I was planning to try using two swords, but since it's now a death-game I can't risk being unable to use sword skills."

As Kirito continued to talk, the next batch of mobs appeared, so the two brought drew their weapons again and continued to farm mobs.

By 21:00, both players had almost run out of their healing potions, and headed back to the village. After repairing their equipment and replenishing their potions, they noticed that even at this time there were still no players around.

"I guess everyone's taking this game seriously by now? That would explain why nobody's crazy enough to come so far out so early in the game." Klein suggested

"Or hopefully at least they're staying in town instead of wandering out and getting themselves killed." Kirito added.

"So that was the main reason you came across as the unfriendly oppressive 'champion' back in the tutorial, so that people would at least be scared enough to not act foolishly."

"Well, I didn't really think it out that deeply, I just wanted to make people at least calm down before getting themselves killed."

"Either way, it looks like you'll have a heck of a job to do tomorrow. We should head back and rest soon."

Kirito felt that Klein was right, yet something was bothering him, as if he felt there was one more mission that he needed to complete before he left.

"Klein, do you want to rest a bit for now, I'll need you to be at 100% when we return, since travelling late at night is always dangerous. I've got something that I need to check out first." Kirito stated, as he started walking back into the Nepenthes field.

"Uh... OK... I suppose I'll just take a nap on this nice bench" Klein replied, quite confused as to why Kirito said that, he knew he was done for the day though, and didn't want to hold Kirito back.

Walking deep into the field of Nepanthes, Kirito started fighting the Little Nepents. He quickly noticed that the mobs were different, and the attack patterns were slightly different from the beta test. Most importantly, he noticed that the rate of spawn for the [flower] was greatly reduced. Not once during today's farming did a [flower] spawn, and that could affect the ability of players obtaining the [Anneal Blade]

All of a sudden, he sensed a presence behind him, and quickly turned around with his blade drawn.

"S-Sorry for startling you. I should have called out to you."

"It's OK, don't worry about it."

Kirito replied as he observed the first player he has met outside of [Starting City], obviously he didn't count Klein as they left the city together.

The man that was standing in front of him was of average height, had slightly long brown hair, and looked around fourteen/fifteen years old. He had a rather serious expression, as he held [the buckler] near his [light leather armor], the equipment that Kirito would have purchased if he didn't stumble across the quest bonus.

Kirito knew what the man was up to instantly, due to the fact that he was here and still wielding the [small sword]. Kirito had returned his [Anneal Blade] back to his inventory and was using the same sword.

_There's no mistake, this man was in the beta just as I was, and must be completing the [Secret of the Forest Medicine] quest. This man will be hunting Nepenthes and trying to find the Ovule at all cost, even if he has to MPK someone... this man... _

"My name is Coper, nice to meet you. Mr. Champion"

"Uh, the pleasure's mine."

"So, why are you here trying to collect a [Anneal Blade], I thought you have your special edition +10."

"Well, it would seem that the GM gave me an event item, so it's not really useful apart from collecting." Kirito materialized the [Anneal Blade +10] and showed it to Coper.

Coper looks at the weapon, and notices the note [You are not the owner, access and usage of weapon prohibited]. Apart from the weapon name [Anneal Blade +10] and durability [10], all other stats are hidden from his view. However, that information alone was enough for Coper to ascertain that the item was not fit for continued combat use.

"So I guess we're in the same boat, do you want to team up?" Coper asked Kirito, "Since you're here first I'll let you take the first ovule, how about it?"

"Sure, that would make an efficient method" Kirito replied, the lingering fragments of memories made him feel uneasy, but Kirito didn't see much harm in grouping with Coper - especially when they were not going to form a party.

Starting to farm as a group, Kirito and Coper took down Nepenthes after Nepenthes, falling into a routine where Coper blocks the first hit and Kirito charges the Nepenthes killing it. Kirito was impressed as Coper's precise actions, as expected of a fellow beta tester. He had mastered the skill of keeping distance with the monster, judging when to block, and timing the counterattack.

What struck Kirito the most was Coper's lack of hesitation when he fought, as if he didn't have any worries when fighting the mobs, even if this game was now a prison where you fight to survive.

No, that's not correct, Coper was not fighting because he did not fear death, but was fighting because he was still unable to face the reality. Kirito once felt that way too, but ever since a time he wasn't even able to realize, Kirito had gotten used to fighting for his life in this game.

_Since when did I get used to fighting for my life?_ Kirito thought to himself, as he mindlessly slashed another mob into two.

"You're really as strong as you claim you are, no wonder you were at the top of the game during the CBT" Coper exclaimed, noting Kirito's prowess in combat even if he was distracted.

"It's nothing, after all we did spend hours on these mobs in the beta." Kirito replied, and suddenly noticed. He pointed his finger, and Coper froze as he looked in the same direction.

A Nepent has spawned in the distance, and it held the flower that would spawn the quest item.

"Wait." Kirito stopped Coper before he charged the Little Nepents "There's a [seed] right beside it."

Noticing the trap that would mean certain death at this level, Coper made his suggestion "I'll go lure it away, you get the [flower]"

Although Kirito agreed, he was feeling very uneasy over Coper's suggestion. With Coper luring away the [seed], Kirito made swift work of the [flower]. As the flower dropped Kirito noticed that the ovule seemed different - its description was [Golden Ovule of the Nepent]. Understanding that it was probably a rare item, Kirito instinctively stored it in his inventory, a habit he adopted during his MMO days. (Usually inventoried items don't disappear when characters die, whereas items just 'picked up' do.)

As Kirito heads towards Coper, another vision enters his mind.

**_"Sorry Kirito..."_** **_Coper's face appears, as he slices the seed apart, and activates [Hiding]_**

Kirito stops his steps as he sees the vision, and realizes the possible scenario. It would certainly make sense, and his persona "Phantom" did not exactly make a friendly impression. Now he had to find a way to defuse the bomb before it had a chance to explode. Coming up with a plan, Kirito walks to Coper.

Seeing Coper's expression, Kirito confirmed that his suspicions were correct, Coper was planning to kill him via a MPK (monster player kill), where he'd summon the Nepenthes and [Hide]. It wasn't going to fare well for either of them if it happened, as [Hide] doesn't work well against blind mobs.

"Coper, catch." Kirito tossed his last spare normal [ovule], catching a surprised Coper off guard.

"Huh? Why?" Coper didn't know how to respond as he had expected Kirito, who fully knew the value of the ovule, to value the ovule greatly.

"I'd rather you have the ovule, than potentially risk you turning the monsters against me." Kirito states coldly, then sprints Coper and slices the mob holding the [seed] cleaning with a [Horizontal].

"I don't know if you believe Kayaba's words, but if there's a chance of it being true, then you've just evaded the fate of becoming a murderer. I hope you'll think about that before you ever try that on anyone else, ever again. For the record, your MPK method would have failed, as the [Hiding] skill is ineffective to mobs that don't rely on sight, remember that when you fight these types of mobs in the future."

Coper stands still in shock of Kirito's words, then all of a sudden tears stream from his eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sooo sorry... I don't know what to do... It can't be real... I don't want this to be real..."

Kirito stood in front of Coper motionless, he could not bring himself to comfort the man that just thought of killing him, but he did not want to leave him in this state either. "I won't blame you, this reality is hard to accept for anyone. But understand this, I won't forgive you if I see you attempt to hurt another player."

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry" Coper continued to wail, and all of a sudden he turns around and sprints away, his cursor quickly disappearing as he activates [Hiding].

Kirito stands without moving, he couldn't feel sorry for Coper, but it was as if a weight was lifted from his heart. Kirito smiled as he noticed that he was surrounded again, materializing his [Anneal Blade +10].

_Well, at least I saved another life. Time for me to save my own now._

One hour after leaving Klein at the village, Kirito returned to a yawning Klein.

"You sure took long, did you finish what you needed to do?"

"Pretty much..." Kirito replied sheepishly.

"So what level are you now?" Klein asked sharply, as if he saw through what Kirito was doing.

"Uh... I just turned level 5..." Kirito gave a small laugh, Klein was getting to know him pretty well.

_But I don't think he needs to know about Coper, hopefully nobody has to go through those experiences._

"I should have known! OK, let's quickly hit one more round before we head back. I'm almost at level 4." Klein jumped up and brandished his [Anneal Blade]

"Give me a second, just got 1 more thing to do. I'll meet you just outside the road back to [Starting City]" Kirito shouted as he ran to the cabin.

"I can't believe it's the legendary [Golden Ovule], with this I should be able to cure my daughter completely. I can't ever repay your kindness!" The NPC lady was ecstatic, and pulled Kirito into a dance spinning him round and round.

"I'll tell you what, I never told anyone but I used to be a legendary blacksmith. Once my daughter is fully healed, come back and I'll upgrade your weapon to levels you can't even imagine!"

_Wow, I never knew there was such a development._ Even Kirito was shocked by this revelation, as this was definitely a [guaranteed free upgrade] aimed at later weapon levels.

As the little girl comes to give him a hug to her new 'Onii-chan', Kirito's mood reached a peak for a long time. He was surprised that he could feel so refreshed considering the state of the game, but he wasn't complaining. There was a long way ahead, and he finally felt ready for tomorrow.

"Let's go Klein, we gotta get you to level 4, and I need some sleep to prepare for tomorrow!" Kirito says eagerly, as he drags Klein towards [Starting City[

"This again?! What's gotten into you Kirito?" Klein's voice echos throughout Horunka village, as the two highest leveled players (temporary) return back to [Starting City].

**Author's Notes:**

Finally, my first character death deviation from canon. I wanted to reach this point since forever, and I'm sort of surprised that I lasted this far... lol..

Anyways, next chapter will change MANY events, and hopefully I can start bringing more canon characters into this mess.

I'll see you the next time we join SAO - Link Start!


	13. Random Encounters

**Phase 2: Random Encounters**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

HELP NEEDED: Anyone want to beta my fanfic? Winword is driving me insane and I'm bound to make grammar errors. (Last time I almost fell asleep on my keyboard, and then realized that I was writing in 1st person for half of the story... lol fail...)

**Authors Notes: **FINALLY! I get to involve a few more of the cast of SAO... took me long enough... orz

The walk back to [Starting City] seemed shorter than expected, no doubt due to the fact that both Klein and Kirito were pretty exhausted and didn't pay too much attention to their surroundings. During the walk back, they encountered a few small group of players, no doubt beta participants, and noted the apparent stress level difference between them.

"And to think we were like that a few hours ago." Klein commented.

"Don't worry, in a few hours these guys will be just like us. I just hope they'll take care of themselves."

Finally reaching the [Inner Area], Kirito and Klein say their goodnights and head their separate ways. Kirito somehow felt a tinge of loneliness, an awkward feeling that he hasn't felt for many years. Over the years he had erected a wall in front of his true self, but it would seem this wall was tumbling, ironically due to the fact that he was now stuck in a world that wasn't real.

Clearing his mind, Kirito set towards to local inns of [Starting City], where he would be able to rent a room for the night to crash. He knew of cheaper places to lodge, but since most required a completion of a quest or some sort Kirito decided he'd suffer the higher lodging cost for now.

Passing by the [Black Iron Palace], Kirito looked upon the [Monument of Life], the place where players would normally respawn had the game not become a reality of life and death. Inscribed into the wall were the names of the 10,000 players of SAO, with each strike representing the strike-out of a player from the game, along with the player's life in real life. At the bottom was a running total of players still alive - "9797"

A chill ran down Kirito's spine at the thought of watching the number decrease, and he quickly escaped the area and into the next alley leading to the inns. He did not notice the robed figure standing behind the buildings, or the grin that was on the figure's face.

"So this is the true face of the infamous Phantom, guess things will be pretty interesting after all. I'd better get to work myself."

The next morning, Kirito work up 15 minutes before his timer at 07:30, a first for more than a decade (basically as far as he could remember, or so he claims) Jumping out of his less than stellar bed, which was basically a wood frame with a few hay stacks wrapped in basic cloth, Kirito prepared for the second longest day in his life (tentatively).

Confirming his equipment and skills, Kirito went through each of his menus. Reaching the items menus, he noticed that the [Orb of Darkness] and [Orb of Light] were dimmed out. Hovering over the item displayed a pop-up, showing the weapon that the orb was attached to. Materializing the [Anneal Blade +10] that the [Orb of Light] was attached to, Kirito opened the blade's menu.

"It looks like I can't remove the 'orb' from the weapon once I equip it. I guess I'll have to wait until I get a new weapon, then 'absorb' this weapon into the orb." Kirito spoke to himself, excited to see what significance the orb has.

"Anyways, all my equipment is good to go, it's time to make a name for myself... though honestly I'd rather be less well known. Arghh! I spent SOOO much time creating this avatar, I hate the fact that I'll have to destroy it myself." If the room's security settings did not prevent voices from escaping the room, most likely the entire inn would have heard Kirito's wails of anguish.

Half an hour later, Kirito reached the central arena, where he noticed an exceptional amount of players. Quickly hiding behind a building, he messaged Klein, telling him to meet at the [West Exit]. As he turns around to head towards the exit, he bumps into someone - a child, who falls to the floor.

"Ouch, that hurt!" The young child let out a high pitched voice, as Kirito realized he just knocked over a little girl.

"Are you OK?" Kirito extended his hand apologetically, helping the little girl back onto her feet? As Kirito saw her face, he froze in surprise.

"Huh? Sugu?" Two words escaped Kirito's mouth as he was shocked that the little girl reminded him of his sister, who was technically his cousin.

"Uh... I'm OK.. thank you, sorry for bumping into you." The little girl replied, apparently she did not hear Kirito's slip of mouth. "I'm trying to get to the arena as fast as I can, and I'm sorry I didn't see you."

"It's OK, so why are you going to the arena, it's pretty crowded there?" Kirito asked, for some odd reason the girl seemed familiar, not just by the fact that she resembled his cousin Suguha.

"I'm going there because a really strong player is going to teach us to fight and stay alive. Everyone tells me to just stay in town and wait for the rescue teams, but I don't want to just sit around. I want to travel and explore this world, that's why I came here in the first place. Although to be honest I'm still a little scared." The little girl replied nervously.

"Don't worry, there is still a little over an hour, if you just go down the street you'll reach the arena. But first you should get yourself some equipment, here." Kirito materializes a dagger that he originally prepared for Klein's group as spares, and holds it in his hand.

"In this game the special attacks are called [Sword Skills], to use them you must hold your weapon in the ready position" Kirito holds his ready position, and the dagger starts to glow. "Make sure you relax and let the system control your body, then as the weapon's glow reaches its strongest, release your attack."

As Kirito releases his [Slant] basic skill, the girl is mesmerized, she barely recovers as Kirito gives her the dagger.

"Here, try it yourself." Kirito gently instructs the girl, as she timidly raises the weapon over her shoulder. "Now relax and focus on getting ready to strike... almost... NOW!"

"I did it!" The girl chirped happily.

Kirito let out a small smile as he watched the girl jump happily over the success of her first sword skill. Realizing that he's running behind time, he waves to the girl and begins to leave.

"Good job, keep working hard and you'll become stronger in no time. Keep the dagger, I'll see you soon."

As the girl turns towards Kirito, he smiles and waves at her, realizing that he was looking forward to today after all.

"Thank you very much. My name is Silica, I'll see you again! Thank you!"

_"!" Silica? Why does that name seem so nostalgic? _A thought popped into Kirito's mind as he walked towards the exit.

"Kirito man, you're LATE!" Klein yelled in an exaggerated tone.

"Sorry, I got lost..." Kirito joked back at Klein, he was feeling more comfortable talking casually with Klein now, but his jokes were not exactly well understood.

"I don't believe it, you were probably too busy looking at your leveling guides or something like that" Klein snickered, Kirito jumped inside as he actually wanted to do so later on today.

"Well, anyways, so this is your group of friends. I'm Kirito, otherwise known as the Phantom for now. It's kind of complicated, so I hope you don't mind my false avatar." Kirito said quickly, he knew this was probably going to be the hardest part of his day, as he actually cared about how Klein's friends would react to him. He was expecting at least one of them to blame him for being a "Beater", and that it's be hard to get along with them...

_At long as I can teach them the basic skills, it'll be fine, a guy like me would probably never be accepted._

Kirito's negative thoughts were quickly shattered when Klein's group started cheering, as they eagerly introduced themselves.

"I'm Issin", "Harry One", "Cheers! I'm Dale", "I go by Dynamm, as in _da nam!"_, "Kunimittz, with 1 'Z' only"

"Hehe, I told you they were a joyful bunch, so why'd you get all tensed up for." Seeing the rare opportunity that Kirito is shaken, Klein didn't miss the chance to rub it in.

"Anyways, we know you've got another big appointment soon, so we'll get to business. I've already given everyone the equipment, so we're good to go."

Still recoiling from the earlier shock, Kirito was amazed at Klein's ability to blend him into his group, looks like he wasn't a guild master for nothing. Quickly regaining his composure, he kicked it off into high gear and led the group to the waiting pack of [Frenzy Boars].

Nearing 8:40, Kirito had finished going through the basics with Klein and his friends. Kirito noted that the group shared a close bond, and the atmosphere was almost too friendly for him to bear. He couldn't help but feel the warmth of being with companions, something that still bothered him.

"Well, Kirito, you'd better get going quick. We'll be coming along soon, so go get'er!" Klein shouted in the distance as Kirito started heading back to the [Arena]

As he walked through the alley leading to the arena, he noticed that there was NOBODY on the streets. Suddenly, he froze in his tracks experiencing what would be stage fright, and only then did he realize that he was about to become the center of attention in front of an audience of almost 10,000.

In yesterday's tutorial he just rushed Kayaba out of impulse, and everything afterwards just flowed naturally, yet this time everything was by his intent. Stress continued to build as his nerves were screaming, and his hands clenched together so hard it would probably bleed if there was a setting. He wanted to flee at once, escaping everything and going back to the lonely solo-er that he always was. That's when a message appeared in his UI.

"No matter how you do or what you do, you're already the honorary leader of our guild to be ' Fuurinkazan'. We all owe you big-time, so don't you go running away from us OK?"

_Heh... man I'm beat... guesss I don't have much of a choice do I?_ Kirito shrugged off his doubts as he started walking to the biggest stage of his life so far.

Behind him, the robed figure from yesterday continued to observe Kirito as he headed into the arena. Smiling under the dark robe, a voice silently proclaimed.

"So the legend is born. Go Kii-bou..."


	14. The Tutorial - 2

**Phase 2: The Tutorial - 2**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Authors Notes: **More exposition... orz

The arena was jam-packed of players, most of the players, regardless of whether they wanted to venture out into SAO, felt the need to reply on some hope. It was nothing short of a miracle that a man suddenly attacked the creator of SAO, claiming to be the savior of the players. Technically , Kirito only claimed to be the 'champion of the beta', but to many players that was equivalent to the savior. While many still had doubts about his intentions, no doubt due to his attitude and demeanor, there were few who could simply ignore him.

Kirito swallowed his saliva, and slowly strutted into the arena which had suddenly fallen silent upon his arrival. As if the players were peons greeting the king, Kirito had the attention of everyone that was in audience.

Halfway to the stage in the middle, Kirito drew his [Anneal Blade+10] slowly with deliberation, his aura covering a large section of the arena, partially due to the audience who stared attentively. Left, right, left, right, his footsteps echoed off the arena walls and pounded into the players hearts. Suddenly, with a powerful push on the floor, Kirito lunged forward and performed a [Slant], reaching the bottom of the stage, followed by a jump [Uppercut]. The afterimage barely faded as Kirito then stood with his sword by his side, the audience stared intently in silence.

"What you just witnessed is the game's special attack system, called "Sword Skills". They are your lifeline, and without it you will be doomed to becoming a strike-out on the [Monument of Life]."

Kirito coldly declared, as the temperature of the arena felt like it had dropped several degrees.

"In this world, if you are finally convinced that Kayaba Akihiko is telling the truth, you have only 4 options. The first option is to wait for rescue, though unfortunately the odds are not too high." Kirito looked around, and saw that despair on many faces, he held back his feelings of fear and continue.

"The second option is to stay in the safe zones, and live out your new life in Aincrad. It will not be an easy task, but I'm sure that many of you can at least attempt to live your life. As each floor is cleared, a portal will appear at this very location, and players will be able to teleport between safe zones in the game."

"The third option, is to simply die." Kirito stated coldly, his glare cold as ice. "Those who do not have the resolve to live in Aincrad, nor the hope and patience to wait for rescue, do not deserve to live, whether in this game or in real life." Kirito noticed that he had startled many due to his sudden change in tone, and he could almost taste the fear that was in the air.

"However, I do not feel that any of you standing here deserve that fate, as we all have the potential to change and become stronger. It will be hard, but do not forget that although our real bodies are not with us, we are still living and will continue to live as long as we try. Which leads to the last option - the reason that we are standing here today."

"The last option, is to actively venture into the realm of Aincrad, become stronger, and eventually assist in the clearing of the game. You will bear the hope of all players, as well as the responsibilities of one that has taken the step to live strong. This is that path that we should all aspire to take, and in doing so we are protected as we protect."

Kirito stopped as he caught his breath, he was obviously not born to be a public speaker, and he was desperately hoping that nobody would notice his anxiety.

"At this time, all I have to say is finished. For those who merely wish to stay and wait for rescue, and for those who merely want to remain in the safety in the safe zone, unfortunately I have nothing else to give you. All that I ask is that you do not harm others, and do not be afraid to reach out to others. There are many players, beta-testers and new players, than can form lasting relationship with you throughout the game. For those that are ready to brave the unknown dangers of the game, I have one more parting gift, we will wait until the others have left so we can have some space."

Kirito watched in silence as the majority of players started leaving the arena. The mood was not as gloomy as Kirito expected, but he definitely would not say that the players were feeling relieved. Afterall, his 'savior' speech was nothing more than a cruel reality check for many.

_So I suppose I did fail? Maybe I really wasn't meant for this and they chose the wrong person? Perhaps they should have chosen someone like Argo from the beta instead..._

Putting aside his insecurities for a while, Kirito look at the remaining players, only to be surprised that there were more than he expected. Though a good 5000 players left the arena, there were at least 3000 players that stay behind. Looking around, he noticed that as expected most were young male players that were probably net-addicts as he was.

"Now, as I had mentioned before, the [Sword Skill] system will be our lifeline, and we have the responsibility to fully master it. Will be practicing the form of the basic attack [Slant], the most rudimentary of all attacks. All of you will be equipped with a starting weapon by default, please equip it and make sure you are standing a safe distance from the person next to you."

Kirito watched as the remaining players spread out and take out their weapons nervously, as expected there was not enough space, and many players were standing near the walls.

"Don't worry if you don't get a turn, the method is simple, and everyone will get their turn. This will only take a few minutes. First, bring your weapon back as if you want to stab it, then hold the weapon in the ready position."

As the players lifted their weapons up, shattered specks of light began to glow in the arena. He noticed that many players were not used to holding weapons, and as expected only few were able to maintain their posture until the skill was ready.

"If you are successful, your weapon will begin to glow, and you will be able to feel the [Slant] skill is ready. When it is ready, relax your body so the system can assist your movements, take a step forward and thrust."

In an instant, several activation sounds could be heard in the arena, and Kirito smiled inwardly.

_Good, that should do._

"Now, let's take turns switching with the groups that are waiting. You are able to practice sword skills within the [Safe Area], just don't fire it on other players."

Fifteen minutes later, the majority of players have mastered the basics of skill activation, so Kirito decides to move onto the next phase.

"Now, there are three important things to remember about [Sword Skills]. First, they need time to prepare. Secondly, once you activate the skill, the system takes control and you cannot stop midway. Thirdly, there will be a time delay after your perform the skill, also known as a cool-down. We will go through the next section using groups of two."

"Wait just a second!" All of a sudden a guy jumps onto the stage and glares at Kirito. "Just who do you think you are, giving order like you own us all? You're just one of those dirty beta-testers that are nothing if not for the fact that you've played a little earlier than we have."

Kirito was expecting this to happen eventually, almost to the point where he expected this guy with brown spikey hair to challenge him.

"And who might you be?" Kirito calmly asked.

"The name's Kibaou, and you'd better remember it."

"Sorry, I'm not too good with names, will Spikey do?"

Kirito's comment incited a small wave of laughter within the arena, which quickly resided as Kibaou glared at them.

"Not funny, what I'm saying is that you don't have the qualifications to lead, or teach us, whatever your goals are. I know you guys, you're just planning to have us all set out on the dangerous fields, have us die fighting mobs, and then you guys collect the rewards right?"

Kibaou rambled out, sparking out a wave of muttering within the crowd.

"Not exactly, in this system you are given xp according to the damage you deal to a mob, while it is true that item drops are given to the player that finishes the mob, those who deal the majority of the damage usually benefit most" Kirito explained.

"I'll admit that we beta player have little over a normal player apart from experience. But you do understand that any experience that can be shared is better than none, and that's why I am here. I do this not to make myself look good, but to know that maybe I've increased somebody's chances of survival."

The brown haired punkster looked Kirito in the eye, and found no means to discover any insincerity in his words.

"Fine, then if you're so good, the I'll see just how good you are." Kibaou drew his sword, and waited for Kirito to respond.

Kirito responded, "That won't do, you'll need a training partner for the next section", looking around he noticed a familiar face, and called to the young girl that was eagerly looking at him.

"Excuse me there young lady, would you like to come up and be my assistant in the next demonstration?"

The young girl, Silica looked bewildered as she came to the stage, she did not expect to be brought to the center of attention. Nonetheless the listened to Kirito, having been helped by him just an hour ago.

"Everybody, understand that although this is a reality for us, the system itself is still based on a game. In this game all that matters is skill and stats, so do not for one second assume that a little girl cannot defeat a grown man." Kirito calmly declared.

"How dare you mock me as such!" Kibaou gritted his teeth in fury, the expression alone sending shivers down Silica's back, until Kirito came between the two.

"It's OK, you'll be fine, just remember how you used your [skill] this morning, and you should be faster than him." Kirito reassured Silica, then turned to the crowd.

"In the safe area, hits towards another player will not cause any damage unless during a [Duel], there will however be a knockback effect, so you'll feel how it's like to get hit. In the next exercise I would like each person to attempt to hit their partner with the [Slant] skill, obviously the victor will be decided by the one who is faster in readying their skill."

"Unfortunately, the side that is charging will almost inevitably be hit, since you cannot move while retaining your charge. So take it as a lesson in getting used to getting hit as well. My two assistances will no demonstrate"

"Curse you" Kibaou cursed at Kirito, then faced the little girl "I don't have any against you, but there's no way I'm going to my rear end handed to me by a little girl like you. I hope you're ready to get spanked."

The crowd stared intently as Kirito raised his hand, on each side both Kibaou and Silica had their weapons up and ready to start their activation.

"Ready... GO!" Kirito announced, as both Silica and Kibaou raised their weapons to charge their attack.

"I'll pay you back after this Phantom.." Kibaou muttered to Kirito, as he raised his sword. He had a pretty good feel for activating [sword skills], and would challenge the champion after he dealt with this little gi... ?!

The audience gasped as Silica activated her [Slant], and darted towards Kibaou who has not completed charging his skill. Purple sparks erupted as Silica's [Slant] connected with Kibaou, sending him flying backwards. In an instant, the crowd came to life, talking about what just happened.

"As you can see, the victor in this scenario is the one who readies their skill first. This is true in player versus mobile (PvM) combat as well, and is the most common way to prevent larger monsters to stop their attack. Remember this well, as it is the key to survival. Next will be the issue about cooldown, where one remains frozen after executing a [Sword Skill]"

At this time Kibaou has gotten up from the ground. Gritting his teeth, his vanes were clearly visible on his face due to the over-expression game feature of SAO.

"Why YOU!" Kibaou had lost all his composure, he charged his skill, and lunged at Silica

"Step to the side!" Kirito commanded with authority, and Silica followed like a young puppy. Just as she did so, Kibaou dashed towards her in a pre-programmed fashion, slashing the spot where Silica was standing at.

"Now just give him a tap..." Kirito instructed Silica, as the young girl gave a frozen Kibaou a light push. Being frozen from his post-attack cooldown, Kibaou watches helplessly as Silica pushes him off the stage, falling into the arena floor.

The crowd erupted into laughter, witnessing the little girl soundly defeat the rough punk.

"Remember these penalties affect both players and mobiles, and learn to use them to your advantage. With sufficient practice anyone here should be able to fight against the mobs of SAO and survive. However, remember that you must be careful, there are no retries in this game."

Kirito looked at Silica, who was beaming with happiness and looking at him, and nodded his head.

"Lastly, before we head our different ways. I would ask a favor of any beta or experienced players in the area to help our new players. Are there any volunteers?"

Kirito noticed Klein and his group stepping towards him, an upright looking individual wearing blue, and a person he did not expect. Stepping on the stage, the individuals introduced themselves.

"My name is Coper, I was a beta-test of SAO, and those who were there may have known me as 'CU'. For those who don't know, I was tied for the title of 'best survivor' in the beta, with zero deaths on my name."

_?!_ _The one with the least deaths in SAO's CBT! He was the only one able to tie Argo's record of zero-deaths._

As murmur flowed through the crowd, Kirito was still surprised that Coper would return to [Starting City].

"I am Diabel, I have played several MMO's before, and I hope to get along with everyone as we do our best and live our lives in this game."

"How are you all doing, I'm Klein and these are my friends who joined the game with me. We were in the same guild in our previous games, and loved the MMO scene. This time we want to give back and help everyone, so let's learn together and kick some monster behind."

Kirito turns away and prepares to leave the rest to the guys.

_With this, I should be done._

"Don't you run away so soon!" The spikey haired Kibaou shouted at Kirito, noticing that he was about to leave unnoticed. Kirito turned around.

"You preach about helping others and all the good stuff about 'let's survive together', and yet you're the only one holding a unique weapon and all that other good stuff... pretty hypocritical aren't you. That's why I will never trust beta players!"

Kirito cursed under his breath as he looked Kibaou in the eye.

"First of all, you are correct that we hold something you do not, and that is the information. In any game information is the key, and what we hold is the information of the first 6 levels, out of the hundred levels in SAO. All this information can be obtained, and we encourage everyone to ask players when in need."

"Doesn't change the fact that you have special equipment, and with that you'll be years ahead of everyone." Kibaou retorted.

"You have a point, I didn't earn this weapon in this round. In that case how about this?" Kirito replies, bringing his [Anneal Blade+10] to his hand. With a few menu commands, Kirito turns his champion sword into a shower of polygons.

The crowd watches in awe as Kirito destroys his weapon, the item that is almost equal to one's life.

"Oh, one last thing, you called us beta players cheaters. That's not true, beta players were randomly selected, and most never even played any MMO's before. Please don't associate me with those beta newbies. I'm a beater, the best of the beta. I'll be seeing you all at the front lines, if you ever get there."

Turning around, Kirito leaves the arena, as everyone else watches in silence.

**Author's endnote:** Everybody's favorite spikey-haired idiot is back! And so is Coper (yes, excuse the puns in his beta name). Apologies to Silica fans though because I don't think she'll be coming back too soon... don't want to place the 12-year-old in danger so soon. Diabel makes an entrance as well, so you know I've got something planned for him. Don't know if I want to kill him off though... we'll see...

Now, for a few side-stories, just to flesh out a few of the minor characters, hopefully I won't make them too out-of-character. Gotta re-read the novels and watch the anime ;)


	15. Interlude - Coper-Side

**Phase 2: Coper-side**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Authors Notes: **Just re-read the chapters, and I feel like I just reiterated the original canon story… me=fail… time for me blow off steam by writing something more/less original. For fun I'll even try to write in first-person… though it usually doesn't end well…

Here goes:

[?'s POV]

Surrounding me were 3 [Dire Wolves], each ready to take a good chunk of my HP if I make a mistake, they had already successful taken my HP down to red, and my sword was just sent flying away. The next hit would probably mark my demise…

Nonetheless, I was hardly worried, I've been in worse situations before and come out unscathed and I wasn't going to lose this one.

Dashing between the two wolves, I darted between the opening left by the two wolves in front of me. I was exposing my back but really it didn't matter, as I reached onto the floor and grabbed my [small sword], with my left hand I reached my teleportation crystal in my left waist bag. The cold sensation of the crystal set my mind at ease, as I calmly recited the magic words.

"Teleport, Urbus!"

All of a sudden, the whole world turned grey, and I was unable to move. I looked at my left hand, and I saw the crystal shatter into a million shards of glass.

What? There goes my 0 death record, I'm going to complain to the GM's about this.

Then suddenly a thought popped into my head, as if reminding me of the phrases I heard but forgot:

**"The moment your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever. And at the same time the NERVEGEAR will microwave your brain and destroy it."**

I watched in horror as I see the [Dire Wolf's] fangs sink into my back, and my HP drop to zero. A scream exited my mouth but was lost in the silence of the grey, and all I could do was look at the purple notice that had popped in front of my view.

[YOU ARE DEAD]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

"ARGH" I screamed as I jumped out of bed, the nightmare seemed too real.

_Man, that was a really bad nightmare. I guess I'll wash my face and login to SAO to brush off the shock… wait…huh?_

I looked around and noticed the surrounding were not my familiar room, and quickly realised the currently reality – that I WAS in SAO, to be more precise I was stuck in SAO, which had now become a real game of life and death.

Getting out of the bed of my rented room at the inn, I prepared to get ready for the real start of the game. I made sure to check my equipment thoroughly and made sure that there was no chance that I would get caught off guard. Yesterday I almost made a big mistake that would have cost me my life, and I wasn't about to make another one again. I did not want to die, but more importantly, my pride wouldn't allow me to die in vain. I was the top survivor in the beta, and I wasn't about to die because of a stupid reason in the real game, especially now that the game is real.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

During the beta I used the alias CU as my character, and I used to play a hit and run type of character. I recalled the many times I used my extraordinary agility and speed to help me escape many near death situations, and even if I got cornered I'd always find a way out.

It wasn't long before my name got out there, which was both good and bad for me. I liked the fact that people acknowledged my ability to survive, but in the last few weeks I became a target for several PK groups, and there were many times where I almost lost my crown as a zero-death player. Whether it was luck or ability that helped me survive I don't know, what I do know is that I survived with zero-deaths, and that landed me on the top 10 rankings of the CBT.

This time, I decided to switch up my character name. Maybe it was because my name CU (See You) was provocative to other players, especially those trying to hunt me, but I didn't want others to know who I was during the beta. I figured that I'd get a new character name that was close to my original name. I was definitely a coincidence that saw the periodic table of elements, but somehow I ended up with the name "Copper", and to make things worse I didn't even notice I missed the repeated 'p' and made my name Coper….

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

In hindsight it probably doesn't matter anyways, now that I'm just me and the name hardly matters. What mattered is that I was the best survivor, and I'll still be the best survivor…

Walking out the inn, I noticed that the streets were pretty much empty, being [Starting City] and all. It was as if everyone had gathered for an event, the only people on the streets were NPC vendors and characters. It didn't take long for me to remember the reason, a certain character had promised the players some sort of follow-up after yesterday's [tutorial], and many players were holding to this as a lifeline.

I for one, had no doubts in Kayaba's claims, since I did enough research about him to know about how serious he was about the game. Besides there was nothing to worry about in either case, I would be playing in this game most of the time even if I wasn't trapped. The only difference is that I just needed to be a little more careful than usual.

What slightly bothered me was the person who was actually delivering the second [Tutorial], he was definitely a most unusual player. Usually the beta players rush out of [Starting City] as soon as they can, especially now that the game had become a reality. Instead of claiming the valuable leveling spots he decided to stay here and help the new characters, this I could not comprehend…

To make things worse, this guy, who if I'm not mistaken is the infamous swordsman – Kirito, saved my life yesterday.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Yesterday, right after the [Tutorial] ended, I quickly ended left the central arena and went straight to the NPC shops to prepare myself to Horunka village. I needed to go there because I needed to beat the crowd in obtaining my first lifeline – the [Anneal Blade], proven to be the best one-hand weapon for the first several levels.

I was certain that I wasted no time in preparing myself, just doing the bare minimum to ensure that I was going to survive. In the beta I had spent my time levelling on [Frenzy Boars] until I was well past level 2 before I departed, but this time I only leveled enough to accumulate enough col to buy a few extra potions.

Travelling the forest was quite a scare for me, as I was travelling along and needed to avoid the aggro range of the mobs while heading to the village. Luckily I knew the map inside out due to the beta, and only had to kill 3 boars before I reached the village. Nonetheless I was late…

By the time I arrived, I noticed two figures at the village centre, one was an unfamiliar guy with red hair and a weird bandana, and the other was the 'champion' who everyone knew by now. I wasn't too shocked but still felt a set-back as I was beaten in the race to arrive.

Before they noticed me, I quickly activate the [Hiding] skill that I selected as one of my initial skills. I never used this skill before, but since SAO is now a death game selecting [Hiding] as my first skill is a no-brainer.

I watched as the red bandit character head over to the bench on the far side of town, whereas the 'champion' Phantom headed towards the Nepenthes field. I quickly entered the cabin and activated the [Secret of the Forest Medicine] quest, and entered the Nepenthes field myself.

As I saw the man in the field of Nepenthes, I remembered that he had an [Anneal Blade+10] already, so why was here? Was he waiting for the beta players to come here so he could defeat them to steal their items? Or was he just here to hog the [Little Nepents Ovule] to himself?

I didn't know which it was, and in my preoccupation I stepped too close to him. As the man drew his sword and turned around to face me, obviously my [Hiding] had been broken at this point, I quickly spoke.

"S-Sorry for startling you. I should have called out to you."

"It's OK, don't worry about it."

"My name is Coper, nice to meet you. Mr. Champion"

"Uh, the pleasure's mine."

"So, why are you here trying to collect a [Anneal Blade], I thought you have your special edition +10."

"Well, it would seem that the GM gave me an event item, so it's not really useful apart from collecting." Kirito materialized the [Anneal Blade +10] and showed it to Coper.

Now that I recall, we didn't exactly have a friendly conversation, though it did provide me with his reason to be here. I wasn't in my favor though, as now he was in direct competition to what I wanted – what I needed in order to survive this game.

"So I guess we're in the same boat, do you want to team up?" Coper asked Kirito, "Since you're here first I'll let you take the first ovule, how about it?"

"Sure, that would make an efficient method"

Neither of us spoke much as we started to fight the Nepenthes. I was too busy trying to convince that this was a game, and that none of this was real – it was the only way to quell my fear of dying. I was not playing in a safe field in any sense, and if I accepted the knowledge that I might die it might just become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Looking at the champion, I couldn't help but feel a sense of jealousy. There was no hesitation in his strikes, as he cleaved one mob after another, even without using sword skills he was clearly untouchable. My jealously caused me to take a shot at him,

"You're really as strong as you claim you are, no wonder you were at the top of the game during the CBT"

"It's nothing, after all we did spend hours on these mobs in the beta." He replied, then stopped and pointed his fingers at a direction.

I looked his way and noticed the objective of my quest, the little nepent that carried the 'flower', my instincts urged me to dash towards it, but the champion held me back.

"Wait." The champ stopped me before he charged the Little Nepents "There's a [seed] right beside it."

I looked carefully, and indeed he was correct. However, my mind was wholly consumed by the desire to obtain the [Anneal Blade], then suddenly a wicked plan entered my mind.

_If I lure the mobs to the champion, then he might panic and drop the 'ovule' while he flees, and then I could pick it up and complete the quest. I'll just use my [Hiding] skill and wait out the tide… and since nobody's sure if this game is real; even if his character dies it might not kill the player._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Thinking back I feel very guilty over what I did, but I don't think blaming myself would have saved me back there. I owed the guy my life, even though I may have endangered his life had I gone through with what I tried.

_I can't believe that I owe that guy my life, and yet he doesn't make a deal about it. Just like how he's wasting time on the new players right now._

Yes, this is what bothered me the most, the fact that he saw through everything, and yet still gave me what I wanted.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

"Coper, catch."

"Huh? Why?" I got completely caught off guard, I expected him to take the [Ovule], now that I've lured away the [Seed] and allowed him to kill the flower.

"I'd rather you have the ovule, than potentially risk you turning the monsters against me."

_So he knew…._

"I don't know if you believe Kayaba's words, but if there's a chance of it being true, then you've just evaded the fate of becoming a murderer. I hope you'll think about that before you ever try that on anyone else, ever again. "

At this point I just lost it, I didn't even know how to respond. He smacked me hard with a reality check - the fact that what I was doing was attempted murder.

"For the record, your MPK method would have failed, as the [Hiding] skill is ineffective to mobs that don't rely on sight, remember that when you fight these types of mobs in the future."

If there was a coffin, then that would really have been the final nail… I remember the realization hit me really hard.

_I might have actually KILLED MYSELF_ had I followed through…. NOO, he can't be telling the truth… I can't believe it.

All I remembered was running away as fast as I could, I even ignored all the mobs that were chasing me. It took me a while to calm down back in Horunka, and then submit the quest.

Regaining my composure, I equipped my new weapon and tested my [Hiding] on the first Nepenthes outside the village, and true enough my [Hiding] was ineffective against the blind plants. By the time I killed the Nepenthes I was covered in cold sweat, not from the fight but from the realization that I should have died back there in the field.

I kept myself in hiding for quite a while after that, and soon the 'champion' returned to the village. I waited until the him and his companion left the village. That was when I heard the red-haired bandit shout the 'champion's name – Kirito. I had my suspicions before, but that Klein person confirmed it.

_So this guy was the undisputed champion of the CBT, the LA swordsman Kirito_ .

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

I shake my head and try to clear my thoughts, trying to forget the events that happened yesterday. A part of me didn't feel right though, I did not like to owe favors, and I especially hated owing my life to someone.

Suddenly, I notice a little girl running past the inn, and I called her out of curiosity.

"Where are you going little girl?"

"I'm heading to the arena. The really strong player that stood up for us is going to teach us how to keep ourselves alive in this game. Many people are relying on him, since he knows a lot and can help us. I was really scared yesterday, but I'm hoping to see him and get him to teach me how to be stronger so I don't have to be afraid." The little girl replied innocently as she continued to walk along. Suddenly remembering something, the girl turns around and pouts.

"By the way, I'm not a little girl!"

I let out a chuckle; it's been a while since I've seen someone in a good mood. It can't be helped, especially with a scenario like this.

_Guess it doesn't hurt to see what the guy's up to, maybe he's got some secrets up his sleeve_.

I walked to the entrance, just as Kirito entered the stage. It was almost amusing to watch him appease to the crowds, I could tell he wasn't used to doing this stuff. Nonetheless a part of me was moved.

_Why does that guy do stuff like that? Wasn't he the solo elite? I can't believe that he's got that capacity… I sure don't… I hate to admit it, but that guy's better than me… _

_NO, I don't want to admit it. I'm just as good as he is… and I won't owe him any favors either!_

**"Lastly, before we head our different ways. I would ask a favor of any beta or experienced players in the area to help our new players. Are there any volunteers?" **

I didn't even remember what I was thinking, but when I realized it I was already on the stage.

"My name is Coper, I was a beta-test of SAO, and those who were there may have known me as 'CU'. For those who don't know, I was tied for the title of 'best survivor' in the beta, with zero deaths on my name."

_Now I've done it, not only have I volunteered my time to help the new players, I've given up my beta alias!_

The next moments were a blur for me, all I remembered was that someone challenged Kirito, and he ended up doing the unthinkable – he shattered his [Anneal Blade+10]

I looked in shock as Kirito exited the stage, and all of a sudden someone pulled my shirt.

The little girl beside me, I think her name was Silica, asked me a question,

"Do you know where 's going?"

"He's probably going to start leveling to clear the game for all of us. And his name's not Phantom, his name is Kirito – the strongest player in the beta-test, and the guy that saved my life once."

Noticing that I have a smile on my face, I looked at the direction Kirito left, not even noticing that the little girl had left the stage and chased after the man.

_Now we're even. Watch, I'll catch up to your leveling speed, so don't you die on me. I'll got to show you who's the best at this survival game._

**Author's Notes:** Phew, that was harder than I thought… it's 1 AM now so I'll fix up the grammar someday…

**_If anyone finds errors, I'd be grateful if anyone could point them out for me. Thanks in advance._**


	16. Departure

**Phase 2 - Departure: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Authors Notes: **Almost there... time for the game to start... just a little more housecleaning

Walking out of the arean, Kirito breathed a sigh of relief, his legs almost giving way due to the sudden lifting of all the accumulated tension. He looked into his right hand, which was holding on the [Orb of Darkness] - the remains of his [Anneal Blade+10], and returned it to his inventory.

_Finally... it's done... now I can get back to my usual solo'ing routine. Of all things that I had to do, why did I have to play the 'misunderstood hero'? I'm not suitable for things like that._

Thinking back, the last two days were absolutely unbelievable. Starting with the meeting with Rink; Kayaba's declaration of the death-game; his little standup acting; teaching Klein and his group; and finally this 'second tutorial'... It felt like a non-stop rollercoaster, and he felt drowsy like never before.

_Man... I'm beat... almost feel like just going to the inn and taking another nap for a day... but that won't do, I've already lagged behind for a day, I'd better catch up on lost time._

As Kirito was deep in thought, a robed figure quietly snuck up behind Kirito.

"Yo... Kii-bou!"

"?!" Kirito didn't even have enough time to respond before two arms went around his neck, as well as the familiar voice of his old friend.

"You put up quite the act back there and yesterday, Onee-san is impressed. So you're planning to become leader this time around?"

"Stop joking around Argo, you know as well as I do that I'm not suited for a leadership role. I just did what I had to... besides, it's all over now."

"So you are playing the 'misunderstood hero', it's OK cuz onee-san understands you and will be on your side." The robed figure continued to joke around.

_Perfect timing, just when I wanted to stay away from the crowds and lie low, Argo catches me..._

[Argo the Rat], another player that participated in the CBT, was famous for several things. Besides her rat-like makeup, and her zero-death record, the thing she was most known for was her information network. Argo did not specialize in combat or any technical skills, but made her name by providing information to players, for a price. Her name [the rat] serves both as a praise as much as an insult, as she was the person to go to for information, whether it was good or bad.

"Don't remind me.. I'm glad that this is going to be over soon, as soon I use the [Handheld Mirror]..."

"So that's why Kirito still looks cool... keke, I can't wait to see how Kirito looks like normally." Argo didn't seem to have an intention of stopping her teasing

"Fine, but it's going to cost you." Kirito teased back, as mentally taxing as it was to talk to Argo, Kirito always felt it was refreshing. "Which reminds me, when players start the [Secret Medicine of the Forest] quest, make sure players start the quest with beginner's EQ, the NPC will give them free armor."

"Hum... you seem to be in a good mood today, giving me all this free information, what do you want in return?" Argo grinned at Kirito, "Trying to get on my good side so you get special treatment?"

"Not really, but I'd like you to spread this information amongst the new players, that way they'll have an easier time." Kirito responded seriously.

Argo let out a small chuckle, and begins to pat Kirito on his back "So you are becoming the good-natured 'hero-to-be', onee-san is proud of you."

"OUCH! You didn't have to hit me that hard..." Kirito complained.

"Anyways, consider it done, while I'm at it I'll even write out your little 'tutorial' from earlier on. I'll put it for free in the guide that I'll be selling." Argo finally spoke in a more serious tone.

"Wait, usually it's the other way around, you should be paying me the royalty..." Kirito quickly noticed, but his complaint was cut short with a pop-up message.

**[Argo requests to add you as a friend, accept?]**

"Deal?" The whiskered girl asks, while giving Kirito a deathly glare.

**[YES]**

"Well, that seals the contract." Argo laughs, "Now we're friends with many benefits, if you need to vent, you know I'll be here for you."

Kirito didn't know how to respond, as Argo's giggles disappears down the dark alley.

_I don't think I'll ever be able to match her pace..._ Kirito thought, realizing that he was even more tired than before.

_Anyways, guess I'll message Klein before I head out._

"Excuse me... Kirito-san?" A familiar voice approached Kirito as he was walking towards the exit. Turning around, he saw that the girl that acted as his assitant - Silica, was running down the alley towards him.

"Hi Silica, is there something wrong? But before that, why do you know my name?" Kirito realized half-way that he never told Silica his name.

"I just... wanted... to... thank you ... again for ... helping me many times" Silica attempted to reply as she caught her breath.

"It's not a big deal, just promise me that you won't head out into the fields without a party OK?" Kirito replied, patting Silica on the head. "Actually, why don't you come along for a while? You've met Klein right? I'll see if his group can help you out."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx

Ten minutes later, Klein, Kirito, Silica, and somehow Argo, were gathered beside the [Monument of Life]. Kirito takes out the [Handheld Mirror] and is engulfed in a blue flame.

"So, disappointed in how I actually look?" Kirito asked nervously.

Silence was all that was between the four players, then Argo let out a sigh. "And I thought you were actually a hideous monster or something... that wasn't fun at all..."

"Must say you don't look half-bad at all, I think I could tolerate a guy that looks like you" Klein added in, grinning as he acknowledged Kirito's less masculine face.

"Kirito-san has a very gentle expression, just what I thought you would look like... wha? what am I saying?" Silica quickly turned around as she realized what she had just said...

"Well, so my part is done for now. I'll leave the rest up to you guys... I'll see you around in the front lines maybe? Just make sure you guys survive, and message me if any pops up."

Kirito scrolls through his friends list, which is now populated by 3 people -having just added Silica. He smiles inwardly as he realizes his list is larger than any of his previous games.

_Guess things did change quite a lot this time around, now it's time for me to get back in the game._

Waving at his newfound friends, Kirito walks towards the gate, and notices another familiar face.

"Don't think just because you saved me once that now I owe you OK?" Coper snapped coldly. "I'll catch up to you once I've shown the new players my share of knowledge, so don't you die on me, my pride won't allow it until I've regained the top seat"

Kirito let out a smile as he lifted his fist, which met Coper's fist in mid-air.

"Yeah, I leave them to you... See ya"

As the sun rises towards its peak, none of the players noticed the line at the bottom of the Monument of Life]

**[Surviving Players: 9797 ... 9798]**


	17. Destined Encounters

**Phase 2 - Destined Encounters: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Authors Notes: **Yay... finally time for me to let loose... NOT :( Still so many things I got to keep constant with canon stats. Time for my first OC though so please bear with me.

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 14th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [14:00]

Location: [ Tolbana Outskirts]

Players Alive: [9,654]

Game Status: Running

Kirito ran through the entrance of [Tolbana] at full speed, trying to make up the time he had lost over the first few days. His rhythm had been completely thrown off since the beginning, and shortly leaving [Starting City], he made several mistakes.

"I knew I forgot something ... I should have picked up another [Anneal Blade] when I passed through Horunka" Kirito ranted to himself.

Having destroyed his original gift from the GM, Kirito now needed another [Anneal Blade], due to the fact that he had received two orbs from the GM and wanted one blade per orb. What he forgot though, was that he had already had another 'ovule'.

The end result was a repeated visit half-way to the final village of the floor, a detour that cost Kirito a good two days to make up for. The only good side-effect was that he was now level 7, and had all the materials to upgrade both his swords at least 7 times each. That being said, none of that mattered, since all that mattered right now was...

_Please let that room still be vacant!_

Darting past the town center towards the east side of the village, Kirito dashed into the farmhouse where an old lady, obviously an NPC, sat on a rocking chair. He turned to the missus of the farmhouse, and asked.

"I'd like to rent the house, maximum time duration."

"Maximum duration is currently 10 days, the price will be 1200 col, please confirm."

**"YES!" **Kirito shouted loudly, as if declaring his victory over a floor boss.

_Nothing like a good bath and warm milk... _Kirito though happily. There were few things in SAO that were not exactly necessary, such as bathing and consuming good food. However, even as an addicted online-gamer, actually on the contrary - BECAUSE he is an online addict, Kirito has a tendency to insist on the more enjoyable aspects of gaming. Even at the cost of leveling efficiency.

"Sometimes I think to myself, all this is slowing down my leveling, but oh well.." Kirito mumbled to himself, reassuring himself that he made the right decision, "now to solve my next issue, I need some good food..."

At this point, if Kayaba was actually monitoring Kirito's actions he would probably facepalm, watching Kirito ignore all the quest markers and head back out of [Tolbana] towards the previous village. However, none of this would concern Kirito, as his mission was simple.

One hour later, Kirito stood in the middle of a field of cows, systematically taking them down one by one.

[The Cow's Counterattack] was a simple quest, enter the pasture filled with [Mad Cows] and kill 50 cows. The quest was simple, and the reward was one of the best early-level treats - a pot of [Fresh Cream].

Most players would probably consider the reward a waste of time, as it yields no actual reward to leveling or equipment. However, since there was not no way of logging out, the pleasure of enjoying food was paramount.

In other words, this quest was a straight-forward path to obtaining an unlimited supply of enjoyable food, if not for one complication...

"Uh-oh... here it comes" Kirito gulped as he started running away from the pasture.

The field was designed with a revenge counter, in that it would keep track of how many cows had been killed. Upon reaching 20 cows, a flag would be triggered, summoning a stronger mob.

Kirito hid behind a tree as he observed the mob that appeared, and realized it was the worst case scenario.

[The Angry Bull], a field boss that had only a 10% chance of popping due to the revenge counter.

In the CBT, he had carelessly triggered the condition, and was promptly 1-hit KO'ed when he was impaled by the boss. Kirito frowned as he considered his options.

_At this rate, I'll have to wait at least two hours before the boss mob disappears, but that would mean that I'm wasting at least another day on this quest. The other option would be to take it head on and try to take it out. I remember last time I was only level 5, so I might have a chance..._

Kirito's thoughts were disrupted when he noticed another player character walking into the field, he immediately panicked as he saw that the Bull had already charged towards the player.

"WATCH OUT!" he shouted as loud as he could, simultaneously sprinting out from his cover.

To Kirito's amazement, the player ran towards the Bull, and slid past it in the last moment. Kirito drew his [Anneal Blade], and quickly stood beside the boy who had also brandished his sword - a basic [Iron Sword].

"When it charges, we'll split left and right, and attack it as it passes" Kirito commanded, and the other player, who was probably around Kirito's age, simply nodded.

As expected, the Bull charged the two with blinding frenzy, barely giving both enough time to dodge. The two dodged as two sword marks appeared on the Bull, causing it to roar loudly.

"I'll draw its attention as..." Kirito's sentence was cut mid-way, when he realized that the boy had already done what he planned to do. Using a sequence of light stabs and rapid footwork, the boy drew the Bull's attention, and gave Kirito a clean shot at its weakness - the back. Kirito didn't miss the chance, and quickly attacked with a series of quick slashes. As soon as the slashes connected, Kirito jumped sideways into the air, narrowing dodging the [Rear Kick] that barely grazed him. Noting the 10% damage despite successfully dodging, Kirito finished his [Sonic Leap] on the Bulls' back and jumped backwards.

"The Bull's attack is overwhelming, be careful!" Kirito shouted, noting that the boy was dodging with deadly precision, using the [Minimal Side Step Defense] technique to maximize his chances to counterattack. However, in this case a single hit would be life-threatening, and priority should be put on dodging.

Kirito charges forward as the boy blocked another [Ram] using his sword, and is sliding backwards even though he kept his balance. This time jumping onto the Bull, he performs a guillotine cut on the Bull's head, then stabs his sword into one eye. The beast roars in pain, then stands up, throwing Kirito backwards onto the ground.

Kirito's partner did not miss the chance, as he charged in and stabbed the stomach of the Bull, followed by an [Uppercut], and a kickjump off the Bull's neck to create distance as the Bull fell. Kirito noted that the Bull's HP had finally dropped to the last bar or its original 3, and that the Bull was about to enter its rage mode.

"Here it comes!" He shouts, as he materializes equips his other blade. In the meantime, the other player replaces his one-hand sword with a large battle-axe. Repositioning themselves so the Bull is between the two players, they wait for Bull to attack and open itself to attacks.

To their surprise, the Bull stands up again and stomps the ground with fury, the resulting shockwave disturbs the balance of both players.

"?!" Kirito is caught off guard as he had never seen [The Bull] use such an attack, and barely notices the Bull charging him. Blocking the attack with his sword, he is sent flying into the air, and the Bull miraculously jumps off the ground to continue after Kirito.

_Not good! _Kirito exclaims as he sees the Bull about to impale him with his horns. Quickly doing a half-somersault, he grabs the horns with his hands and pushes himself out of the way. He glanced at his partner who had closed the distance and was launching an attack on the Bull, giving him time to regroup.

Hitting the ground with a roll, Kirito quickly jumps away and throws his picks at the Bull, buying himself some time to make some distance. Grabbing a HP potion from his belt, he quickly begins to replenish his HP which had dropped 60% down to 30%. Shortly after that, he saw that the Bull had knocked the other player away as well. Charging forwards once again, he squarely blocked the attack that would have hit the boy square on.

"Fall back and POT!" Kirito shouted as he struggled to stop the bull from overpower him.

As he noticed the boy had moved out of harm's way, Kirito jumped into the air and used the bull's horn to perform a front handspring over the bull - grabbing his other blade in the process. The bull roared in pain as the sword was pulled from its eye, and once again pounded the ground, sending both players onto the floor.

Now holding both blades, Kirito considered his options, he didn't have enough time to put any weapons back into his inventory, but he did not want to expose his dual blade usage to other players. In the end he decided to take a chance.

Throwing the first [Anneal Blade] at the Bull, Kirito charged forward, drawing its attention. Taking the thrown blade in the neck, the Bull charged towards Kirito, and at this time a smile surfaced on Kirito's face.

"NOW!" Kirito shouted as a Battleaxe cleaved the Bull in an [Uppercut], sending the Bull into the air. Kirito did not miss a beat as he launched his [Rage Spike] at the Bull, letting go of his weapon, and grabbing the [Anneal Blade] that was lodged in the Bull's neck.

"HAAA" Kirito roars as he pulls the embedded [Anneal Blade], putting his full force into cutting the neck of the Bull. As if it was waiting for this moment, Kirito's [Anneal Blade] started glowing white, and cut through the Bull like a hot knife through butter. Kirito landed on the floor, kneeling on the floor holding his weapon, as his other blade stabbed into the ground beside him.

The Bull, frozen in midair, let out a sharp chime and shattered into a shower of polygons, and message boxes popped up in front of the two victorious players.

Kirito glanced at the [You got the last attack!] message, and the reward of [Bullish Shield]. Materializing the shield, he tossed the shield to the other player, who looked at him in a puzzled fashion.

"Here, take this shield, I wouldn't have defeated [The Bull] without your help, besides I don't like using shields." Kirito spoke to the other player.

"Thank you Kirito-san, you are very kind." The other player finally replied, then equipped the weapon along with his sword. "I'll treasure it. My name is Aki, I'll see you around."

Puzzled as to why this boy, apparently named Aki, knew his name, Kirito wasn't able to respond as the boy walked back into the forest.

"That guy sure was a weird one... Aki huh?" Kirito thought the name was sort of abnormal, could it be a short form of something? Akito? Akira?

Remember that he was still in a hostile area, Kirito quickly cleared his mind and addressed the other important thing he had realized.

_Come to think of it, throwing a blade at an opponent turned out to be quite an efficient tactic. I wonder whether there's any way I could develop a method for it._

Bringing both his blades to the ready position, Kirito returned to his quest.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x

Walking back to the village, recollections of the combat filled Kirito's mind.

_So if I first throw the sword and impale the mob, then charge it to land another strike, as long as I let go of my blade the cooldown can be negated, then I can pull out the blade that was stabbed in the mob, dealing it more damage, and finally finish it with my blade..._

_The other way is to toss the blade close to the mob, then as my first attack ends, I can switch weapons and perform my second strike... or in extreme case I can mark one mob by throwing the blade, finishing it with the other, then marking the next... though I'd probably gain a LOT of hate amongst the players very soon..._

Kirito's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of fighting, following the sound he entered an area where [Stray Kobald] would spawn. These level 5 humanoid troopers would be the first introduction to the higher leveled [Ruin Troop Kobald] found in a labyrinth dungeon. Nonetheless the [Stray Kobald] were formidable opponents at low levels, and Kirito wanted to see who was fighting them.

Inside the field stood a lone player weilding a longsword and round shield, he had silver hair, and looked to be well built. Watching the man, Kirito noted the amount of refinement in the man's movements - every move was perfectly placed; every attack hit its mark; every defense was solid. Each time the Kobald attacked, the man moved as if he already knew the perfect place to put his shield, allowing the shield to deflect the Kobald's attack effortlessly. Not missing any chances left by the Kobald, the man's longsword would lightly chip away at the Kobalds HP. Kirito was absorbed in the man's skills, as if watching a top class musician perform his favorite repertoire piece.

"Huh, why hello there" The man suddenly greeted Kirito, while still fighting the Kobald. Kirito nodded his head in acknowledgement, trying not to interrupt the man, who effortlessly finished the Kobald then walked over.

"I did not expect to meet another player here." The man said, "So far I've walked for quite a few days, and all I've encountered are monsters and NPC's"

"Well, I suppose it's because this forest is already pretty deep inside the first level. I'm surprised how many people have ventured this far already, I suppose it may be a good sign that more experienced players are hitting the fields now" Kirito replied, assuming that the player in front of him was also from the beta-test.

"Actually, I just sort of got lost in this area and found this spot. It seems that the spawn is really sparse here, and it's a really good place to refine my dueling technique." The man's reply surprised Kirito, from the response it didn't seem like this man was from the beta-test.

_Maybe just a gifted MMO player? _Kirito thought to himself, and replied the man, "I noticed your technique was very refined, it's very impressive."

"Why thank you, I've spent the last few days practicing on this mob. At first it was really difficult and I almost fell to its attacks, but since I've reached level 6 the mob's been much easier to defeat."

_He's level 6? That's pretty impressive, especially considering he started fighting the mob at level 5. _Kirito was mildly impressed, though it was not a surprise since he expected the beta players to be at level 7 or so by now. Even he had reached level 8 despite wasting two days with the tutorial and all.

"By the way, my name is Heathcliff, pleased to be your acquaintance." The man greeted Kirito politely, as he held his hand out.

All of a sudden, flashes of visions filled Kirito's mind, bombarding him with overwhelming information.

**_"If you want to take her— win her with your sword, with «Dual Blades». If you fight me and win, then Asuna can go with you. But if you lose, then you will have to join the Knights of the Blood." _**

**_"No... After this fight you'll be part of our guild. I'll be designating this duel as one of the guild's missions."_**

**_ "—Yes. I am %^&*%^^&*%&^ . I am also the final boss of the game who awaits you all on the top floor." _**

**_"Well, this is goodbye— Kirito-kun." _**

Unable to organize his thoughts, Kirito stumbled backwards from the surprised Heathcliff.

_I must get out of here! _ Kirito's instincts were screaming to him, instructing him to run away.

"UGH! I sorry, but I must go...!"

Getting to his feet, Kirito began to flee in the opposite direction, leaving a stunned Heathcliff standing in the middle of the field.

"I wonder what happened to him?" The silver-haired man contemplated.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x

Kirito fled as fast as he could, though he could not understand why. The visions that he just had a moment ago became nothing more than a mixture of raw emotion - surprise, hate, fear, regret... it was so much that he did not even know what to do. All that was in his mind right now was to run.

By the time his mind cleared up, he realized that he had returned to the barn where he needed to submit the [Cow's Counterattack] quest. Trying to clear his thought, Kirito submitted the quest and started another instance. He figured that he would probably redo the quest some time later, but right now his mind too confused to risk heading back in that direction.

Deciding to do some mindless leveling to allow some time to think, Kirito headed South down a trail that led to a small lake where [Wasps] spawned. There were four variants that provided a good leveling ground for a variety of players, ranging from the level 4 [Small Wasp], the level 5 [Idle Wasp], the level 6 [Colored Wasp] and finally the level 7 [Vicious Wasp].

As Kirito travelled down the trail, he went over his equipment and stats. So far in the 7 levels he had gained reaching level 8, he had distributed 12 points to STR, and 9 points to AGI. Kirito felt that STR and AGI were the key to a player's survival in lower levels, and also had the most important benefits at lower levels - STR led to increased attack power and a slight boost to HP, and AGI allowed for higher travelling speeds which allowed him to reach further into the level faster.

In terms of equipment, Kirito felt pretty pleased with his results. Both his [Anneal Blades] have been refined to +4 (2S2D), representing 2 upgrades in the [Sharpness] - leading to increased attack power, and 2 upgrades in [Durability] - allowing the weapon to take more punishment before losing attacking strength and eventually breaking. He had equipped each sword with one of the 'orbs' entrusted to him from Rinko, and noted that one sword emitted a dark aura while the other one had a white glow.

As usual for his play-style, Col was always a problem, since Kirito had a bad habit of purchasing odd and interesting items, as well as dumping all his money into upgrading equipment.

_It doesn't matter though, since in this game my equipment is my lifeline... can't spend too much money on my life right?_

All of a sudden, Kirito heard the sound of fighting, coming from the lake area he was planning to level at.

_What is it this time? I'm bumping into a lot of other players today am I not?_ Kirito complained to the Cardinal system.

As he approached the lake Kirito was stunned by what was in front of his eyes.

In the lake in front of Kirito, a fairy danced in the lake with a group of [Small Wasps] as her partners.

Kirito was at a loss of words, staring into her figure as she danced with her enemy.

The fairy's chestnut hair flowed freely in the wind, as she pranced in the shallow waters of the lake, barely dodging the Wasp as she moved. Her slender arms, wrapped in a silky white dress, controlled her silver rapier towards the Wasp, striking with pinpoint accuracy. Water drops fly into the air, and reflect the sunlight onto the her delicate fingers holding a [Basic Rapier]. Her chestnut eyes glisten in the reflection of the water, as she watches the Wasp shatter into millions of polygons.

Watching this spectacle, a stunned Kirito is barely able to mutter a word...

"Overkill..."

**_Author Notes:_** orz...


	18. Boy meets Girl

**Phase 2 - Boy Meets Girl: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

The water rippled gently, lightly hitting the shore of the little lake. A chestnut haired beauty stood in front of her fallen foe - a [Small Wasp]. In the distance, Kirito stood speechless after witnessing the combat which looked more like a dance.

Normally, if this was a normal game, a personally would naturally comment on the beauty of the player, or the elegance of the dance. Even considering the death-game, most normal players would probably be stunned enough to forget about the trivialities such as efficiency.

However, Kirito was not normal person with average social skills, nor was he a normal player who was fluent in social interaction. Witnessing the event, all he was able to mutter was one word.

"Overkill"

The female player, a rarity in SAO where the majority of players were male, turned around upon hearing Kirito's comment. Kirito felt her gaze pierce him as she approached where he was standing.

"What's 'overkill'?" She asked emotionlessly.

At this point, Kirito nearly died from the shock. He had thought that the girl was a beta tester, and was already surprised that such players existed, but what the girl said confirmed a far more absurd truth - the girl was likely to be unfamiliar to RPG games, despite having a [Linear] that was faster than anything he had seen.

To his knowledge, most of the female players had remained in [Starting City], many of them not even entertaining the thought of walking around. Of the few that left the [Safe Area], most were partied with people they knew in real life, and others were quickly invited to join large parties. It was unthinkable to see a lone female player, especially at this location which was pretty far in the 'front lines' (for the first level).

"'Overkill' is referred to the times you kill a mob for damage much higher than needed. For example, the [Small Wasp] that you just defeated only had a few points of HP left, yet you used a powerful [Sword Skill] against it. That's what we refer to 'overkill'." Kirito began to explain.

The girl nodded, as if she understood what Kirito was saying, then completely surprised him again. "And is that bad?"

Kirito almost fell on the ground at that question, "Well, considering the fact that you need to concentrate when you use [Sword Skills], constantly overkilling will tire you out quickly. You also have to consider your return path, if you tire yourself out you'll have problems when heading back to town especially if you don't remember the path back."

The girl fell silent for a while, as Kirito observed her expression. Kirito noticed that a flash of sadness flash across her expression, before she resumed her poker face and replied. "Then it doesn't matter, I don't plan to backtrack to the previous town."

"So where are you planning to go if you don't plan go backtrack?"

"The next safe area, and then the next..."

Kirito put his palm over his face, realizing that this girl evidently had no idea about RPG gaming. In RPG games, especially online RPG's, travelling between towns to complete quests is the most common element. It was due to this reason that many RPG's were able to keep their maps relatively small, despite having many quests to keep players interested.

Yet, this girl seemed uninterested in the RPG elements of the game, and moreover she didn't even seem interested in anything about the world at all. Kirito's curiosity overwhelmed his will to not dig into other's personal lives, and he asked.

"So you basically fight non-stop? What about replenishing your HP? How about your equipment?"

"I'm not taking damage, so I'll be fine with what I have. I also bought five swords at the last village, so I should be fine until I reach the next village."

"So you've been fighting non-stop?! For how long? Don't you plan on sleeping?"

"This is only my second day, so I should be fine, once I finish all five swords, then I can head to the next safe area and sleep."

_Did she just say she fought non-stop for two days?!_

As Kirito remained speechless, the girl began to head back into the lake of Wasps. "The monsters are about to re-pop, so I'll be going. See you"

"uh... OK" Kirito replied, unable to find a way to resume the conversation.

Kirito watched as the chestnut-haired girl headed back into the field, this time towards the level 5 [Idle Wasps]. Finally deciding not to continue his involvement, Kirito started to continue down the path back towards [Starting City].

Several steps down, a sharp sound echoed through the air, sounding oddly similar to nails across a chalkboard, Kirito turned around and saw that the girl with the rapier surrounded by over a dozen wasps. Quickly, Kirito sprinted back towards the lake, drawing his dark [Anneal Blade].

_When did they add such a feature in this area, I never recalled something happening like this in the beta. This is almost like Horunka village's [Seed Nepenthes]_

It didn't take Kirito long to reach the girl, who was struggling to avoid being hit. While her dodging was perfect against a single wasp, in numbers the wasps overwhelmed her and were able to land hits. Kirito noted that the girl's HP was already in the yellow zone, and quickly entered combat, slicing two [Idle Wasps] with a single [Horizontal].

"Fencer-san, Switch and Pot!" Kirito yelled. He didn't know that girl's name, and instinctively he referred to her based on her style of attacking.

"What's that?" The girl replied, clearly confused at the terminology.

_OMG! _Kirito cursed under his breath as he dispatched another two [Small Wasps] with a well timed [Horizontal], the Wasps were of little threat to him individually, but as a group they could endanger even a level 9 player such as himself.

"Move back, and drink a potion" Kirito quickly grabbed a potion from his waist-pack, and tossed it to the girl.

"Okay... thank you" The girl moved back several steps, then consumed the potion the just caught.

In the meantime, Kirito was having a hard time with the Wasps. Even though the [Small Wasp] and [Idle Wasp] were simple 1-hit kills, the [Colorful Wasp] and [Vicious Wasp] were a different story.

The [Colorful Wasp] had a special skill where it would emit a small colorful cloud of poison, giving them their name. Any player caught in the attack has a 50% chance to be inflicted of the status [Poisoned] for 15 seconds, dealing 15% damage over the duration of the attack.

To make things worse, the cloud serves as a visual obstruction, allowing the [Vicious Wasp] to execute their [Sting Rush], a single hit attack that deals [knockback], potentially knocking the player on the ground. Much care is needed when dealing with these two mobs, and in combination they become much deadlier.

_It's probably a good idea to retreat for now... but it'll be hard if I can't get the girl to co-operate_. Kirito thought to himself, while slowly falling back and avoiding the Wasps attacks. Seeing that the girl's HP was back in the green, he devised a plan.

"Fencer-san, try to help me lure the colorful wasps into my range, and be careful of the big wasps with red stingers." Kirito commanded.

"Understood" a quick reply was all Kirito needed.

Using the girl's quick stabbing attacks to direct the wasps, Kirito was able to kill the [Colorful wasps] quickly. He felt bad for dealing most of the damage, but this was not a time to worry about exp gain. Keeping the [Vicious Wasps] at bay with his throwing picks, Kirito finished up the last of the [Colorful Wasps].

"Keep moving and don't stop at one place. With these [Vicious Wasps], once they can lock on they'll unleash their [Sting Rush] attack." Kirito shouted, as he dashed into the group of [Vicious Wasps], weaving in and out, cut marks appeared on the Wasps as their HP was slowly depleted.

Kirito noticed that the girl was keeping pace well with him, and continued to clear out the final mobs. In less than a minute the two players were all that remained on the field.

"Phew, that was a close one." Kirito breathed a sigh of relief, and beside him the girl returned her sword to the sheath.

All of a sudden, Kirito heard a loud buzzing sound, and he noticed a black shadow covering the sky. Looking up, he froze in horror.

"Watch out!" Kirito screamed as he leapt towards the girl who was looking at him with a surprised expression, sending both of them sideways into the air. Behind them, a loud thump was heard.

Kirito felt a soft sensation on his face, as a soothing smell entered his nose, but this was not the time for that. Getting up and off the girl he had pushed away, he turned and froze at the sight of the mob that appeared. Beneath him, the girl had recovered from the knockdown.

"Where are you touchi- *gasp*" The girl stopped midsentence at the sight of the mob as well.

[The Giant Wasp], almost ten times the size of a normal Wasp, stood in front of the two. Kirito quickly assessed the situation, and realized it was definitely grim. Brandishing his sword, he stood in a defensive position beside his partner, in a defensive position... which was quickly breached.

The Wasp fluttered its wings, and a strong wind made both fighters lose their footing, and before the recovered the wasp had charged both fighters with unmatched speed. A shattering sound was heard at both players had their weapons sent into the air, evidently one of the weapons had disintegrated due to the attack. Now unarmed, the two players got up and quickly reached the same conclusion.

"RUN!" A simultaneous scream signaled a mad rush away from the Giant Wasp, as both players ran full-dash from the once serene lake.

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Fifteen minutes later, the familiar scene of [Inner Area] signified their return to a safe area. Gasping for air even though it was not required in the game, the two players calmed down and added their stat points - apparently they had leveled during the fight with the wasps. Finishing up his stats allocation, Kirito turned to the girl, who had put on a robe over her dress.

"... !" The two suddenly started laughing at the same time.

"Man! I'm beat, I haven't run that fast ever in my life!" Kirito

"I thought I was going to die from no oxygen there." the girl beside him mentioned, trying to control her chuckle, the first time Kirito noticed her showing her emotions openly.

"I never knew that field had a boss trigger, but I guess it was lucky that was slow and it didn't chase us too far." Kirito commented.

"How did we get back to the city so soon?"

"Well, this is usually the direct route, though I did lead us through a few shortcuts." Kirito responded, recalling the fact that they jumped down several small cliffs in order to shorten the time it took. Getting back would significantly more time consuming, but that was for later on.

"It took me almost two days to reach that point... " the girl complained, as she started fixing up her robe.

"Well, I suppose you took the round-about route. Next time you should buy the map, it'll help you navigate the area better."

"I didn't want to spend money on it... wasn't planning to come back here to begin with."

"You really should, travelling between towns and villages is a necessity in RPG games. That's why it's usually a bad idea to overkill frequently, if your attention had faltered back then, we might have died."

All of a sudden, the girl started falling backwards. Kirito dashed towards her, and caught her as the girl kneeled down, wrapping her arms around her body.

"Yes... I was about to get killed..." The girl whispered into the air. "It doesn't matter... everyone is going to die anyways... where and how... sooner or later... that's the only difference... one day, I too..."

"Hey, are you alright?" Kirito grabbed got down and looked at the face under the hood.

Under the hood, the hazel eyes that once glittered had lost its color, and a shade of grey glossed over her pupils.

"Hey! SNAP OUT OF IT! You're going to be fine! You're strong, you'll survive." Kirito shouted as he shook the girl's shoulders. It seemed to have an effect as the girl was startled and looked at Kirito.

"Uh... sorry... and thank you..." The girl replied weakly.

"Don't worry about it" Kirito replied, he realized that it was probably a long day for her, and that it was probably a good idea to take a rest. "You should call it a day, get some sleep, and I'll meet you tomorrow morning here at 09:00?"

"OK..."

Glad that the girl had agreed, Kirito froze as he realized that they were still in the middle of the streets of [Starting City], a small crowd had already gathered and were looking at them. The girl in her arms seemed to have also realized, and Kirito noticed her face turn bright red.

"Where are you touching again?! HENTAI!" The girl's shriek blasted Kirito's eardrums, as a power hit slammed into his face, sending him tumbling away.

"Uh... fencer-san?" Kirito was confused as to what happened, as he tried to recall the situation...

_Let's see... the girl suddenly collapsed, and I caught her as she fell backwards... did I hurt her then? The sensation felt soft so I shouldn't have..._

**POW! **Kirito's thoughts were interrupted as a foot stomped beside his head.

"My name's Asuna, and if you recall any of the scenes I'll make sure you forget about them permanently, OK?" Crouching beside Kirito, the girl pointed her finger at Kirito, make sure that her dress was properly positioned so that Kirito would not be able to take any advantage. Kirito could only nod in agreement, unable to shake the feeling that any other response would end his life.

"Hmph!"

Getting up, the now-robed girl disappeared down the alleyways of [Starting City], and as Kirito stood up he reflected on his actions.

_Man... when will I finally understand girls?_

Uncertain that he ever will have an answer, Kirito turned to the alley that leads to the living district, when a realization hit him.

"OH NO! I DROPPED MY WEAPON!" Kirito wailed in agony.

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The next day, in the recently established free newspaper [Daily Argo], the title would be named [Girls Beware: What to do when a pervert approaches you? Learning about harassment protocols]

**Author's Notes: **  
In case you were wondering, Kirito and Asuna's meeting ended up being 2 weeks earlier. This is due to Kirito being active during the tutorial and inspiring the entire player population.

In the original SAO: Progressive, Asuna locked herself in an inn room for 2 weeks waiting to be rescued, and finally decided to leave [Starting City] when she realized that help was not coming. In this AU, Asuna decided to leave slightly earlier due to the fact that Kirito had inspired players to fight for their freedom.

In reality, the reason is because I WANTED IT THIS WAY... lol... but it's better than waiting another 10 chapters before she appears right?

Next chapter will be rather mixed... so don't get too excited OK?

(and NO, I have not decided on a KiritoxAsuna pairing... yet...)


	19. Possession, Party, and Predicament

**Phase 2 - Possession; Party; and Predicament: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Authors Notes: **OK, so FINALLY most of the main characters have been introduced... and everyone's been more/less accounted for. For the three (?) remaining SAO original cast, they'll arrive in due time, I don't want to ruin the time continuum yet...

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 14th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [21:00]

Location: [Starting City Outskirts]

Players Alive: [9,650]

Game Status: Running

Outside [Starting City], Kirito was sprinting through the path towards Tolbana. He had just been realized that he dropped his [Anneal Blade (Dark)], and now needed to recover it.

_It's been almost an hour so far, so under normal circumstances the weapon durability should almost begin to deteriorate. As long as I get to the sword before it breaks, I might have a chance to recover it._

According to the rules, a disarmed weapon remains in possession of the owner for 3600 seconds, or one hour. Normally the best way would be to kill the mob and then retrieve the weapon, but in this case killing the boss would be quite a difficult task. Understanding this, Kirito chose the second option, to find the weapon without confronting the [Giant Wasp], then retreat. Unfortunately this method would take time, so he would need to hurry.

Opening his equipment menu, he equipped his other [Anneal Blade (Light)] onto his left-hand, due to the fact that weapon possession disappears if a weapon switch is used. Instantly the area was illuminated by a light glow, as his [Anneal Blade] materialized into his hand.

_That's interesting, it looks like the [Orb of Light] made my sword into a torch... I suppose it's better than nothing... what do these orbs do anyways?_

Quickly dispelling his random thoughts, Kirito clicked on the [Right Hand] section of his equipment avatar, noticing that the [Anneal Blade] was grayed out - signifying a lost weapon. Surprisingly, a menu popped from on the [Anneal Blade], allowing Kirito to click the item [Orb of Darkness]. Doing so showed a submenu of 'Track' (grayed out) and 'Destroy Host and Return', which was new to the veteran player, beside the name, a timer was shown counting down - [15:20]

_Another surprise, to think that there'd be such a convenient feature. I thought SAO wasn't supposed to have any magical elements, I guess I was mistaken? Guess I'll have to learn my track skill earlier than I intended._

Opening the skills submenu, Kirito clicked on [Searching] and [Add Mod - Tracking]. He noticed that the 'Track' option was now white on the [Orb of Darkness], and he clicked on it. In an instant, he noticed a green flashing orb in the distance, and continued to run towards it.

A buzzing sound quickly sent Kirito dashing for the trees, as he realized that it was the sound of [The Giant Wasp]. Keeping his guard, he slowed down his pace as he traversed the forest towards his dropped weapon.

In the distance, he heard the sounds of weapons clashing, and faint voices shouting something he could not make out. Realizing that there was likely a group of people fighting out there, Kirito quickly resumed his speed and dashed towards his [Anneal Blade].

Kirito had emerged from the forest when he noticed his weapon, it was stuck on a tree near the area where he and Asuna were blown away by the [Giant Wasp] just an hour ago. Kirito quickly jumped from branch to branch, and recovered his [Anneal Blade]. Landing on the ground, he quickly sprinted to where the fighting was occuring.

[The Giant Wasp] was engaged by a party of 12 players, likely split into 2 groups of 6, and it looked like the party was doing well fending off the [Giant Wasp]. Seeing this Kirito decided to remain in the shadows and sheath his blades, it was rude to interrupt a farming attempt, especially against a 'boss' class mob - generally anything that had a 'The' in their name.

Kirito focused on the HP bar of [The Giant Wasp], noticing that the party had successfully taken out most of the second bar of the boss' HP. Noting that the boss was going to enter its rage mode, Kirito held the hilt of his sheathed weapon nervously.

As expected, [The Giant Wasp] let out a shockwave as it reached its last HP bar, which was well defended by the 4 tanks in the party. Kirito smiled as he praised the leader's abilities, and figured that the leader was likely a beta tester such as himself. There was something that bugged him about the boss though...

_What happened to the new attack pattern? Usually boss mobs exhibit a different attack pattern or special ability when they reach 'rage mode'..._

"Be careful, the boss still hasn't used it's secret attack mode!" Kirito yelled, but the leader of the party didn't seem to heed his warning.

"We'll be fine, we know what we're doing, the boss will be dead soon." The leader replied confidently. "Just stand there and watch us finish the boss, and don't get in our way."

Not exactly pleased at the leader's attitude, Kirito decided to keep his position, as he didn't want be in conflict with other players.

As the 12 players continued their routine of rotating attacks, the last HP bar of the [Giant Wasp] dropped to the last 50%, and Kirito's predictions came true. A sharp noise resonated in the field, a familiar noise that he heard not long ago, and instantly a good 30 or so wasps surrounded the group that was attacking the [Giant Wasp]. Kirito recognized that most of the wasps were either [Colored] or [Vicious], and would be a threat in numbers.

Kirito drew his [Anneal Blade (Dark)], and shouted to the party. "Be careful! The [Colored] and [Vicious Wasps] have a combination attack!"

Unfortunately, the party did not hear Kirito's voice, the group was instantly sent into a state of panic, despite its leader's attempt to regain control.

"Don't panic, we have to keep attacking the [Giant Wasp], it's almost dead"

"But we're being attacked from behind."

"Help me quickly! I need to pot"

"I can't stop them, help!"

"Calm down! Regroup!"

Realizing that the party was in danger, Kirito dashed across the field and began attacking the wasps in a frenzy.

"Fall back now! You'll all die at this rate!" Kirito shouted, but his fears were about to come true. The formation of the party had completely collapsed, and the leader was forced to fight the [Giant Wasp] alone.

"?! Everyone regroup! Someone help me! SWITCH!" The leader bellowed, but nobody was listening. Kirito desperately tried to hack his way through, but the sheer numbers were enough to prevent Kirito to reach the leader in time.

As if in slow motion, [The Giant Wasp] pulled back its needle which began to glow red, and thrust forwards towards the leader of the party. Breaking the shield that the player used to block the attack, the Wasp impaled the leader through the chest.

"baka-na..." The leader gasped as his HP was depleted, and along with an errie shattering sound, a sound that was familiar but different to a monster's death chime; a chime heralding the exit of a player from SAO's stage; a sound that Kirito did not ever was to hear.

"No! Claus-san!" A spear user in the party yelled in anguish, as he tried to push away the wasp advancing on his position.

Kirito broke through the wasp's barricade, and charges at the [Giant Wasp], gaining its attention. "Get your act together, and retreat slowly, you can't panic or you'll get killed! Gather together with our backs to each other!" Kirito yelled as his slash pushed the Giant Wasp backwards.

" We can't, we're doomed without Claus-san!" A panicking voice was heard to Kirito's rear.

"NOOO!" Another scream, a girl's voice, echoed in behind Kirito's back.

"ARGH! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"SOMEBODY HELP!"

_This is NOT GOOD... _ Kirito thought. With this party in complete chaos, there is a chance that he would be leaving his back undefended if the smaller wasps broke through... _The only chance I have is to keep attacking_.

"EVERYONE RUN!"

"DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND!"

*kashann*

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

"ARGH!"

*shatter*

The voices behind Kirito eventually become background noise, as he concentrates on the [Giant Wasp] movements, he could see its HP at around 20% of the last bar, and that a well placed attack should end it. Afterwards he could help the other players...

_It's preparing for a charging sting, I'll have to dodge this._

Watching the red streak head towards him, Kirito bend his knees and pushed off the ground. A [Rage Spike] triggered the system assist, sending Kirito just mere centimeters of the boss' attack. Kirito swung his sword upwards, catching the wing of the wasp, then with a downward movement he swings at the head. Cutting into the Giant Wasp's centre torso, the blade changes direction and does a V shape as it comes back upwards. With a spin of his body, Kirito swings his sword around his body, chops the head of the Wasp.

Without even confirming the death of the boss, or the 'You got the last attack' message. Kirito dashed towards the remaining players in the party. Overcome by pure instinct, Kirito slayed wasp after wasp, until finally no more mobs were in the area. At this time he looked at the remaining players - only 3 or the original 12 remained.

Walking to the position of the victim of the [Giant Wasp], he picked up the sword of the fallen leader of the party - an [Anneal Blade 3S1D (6/8)]. "Good Work, may you rest in peace." Kirito remarked silently.

"Claus-san, where is he?" A high-pitched voice asked, as Kirito looked at the boy who seemed older than him.

"He's gone, so is everyone else but us. We were lucky..." An older man replied, looking around at his remaining companions. Kirito looked at the third player, who was visibly shaken.

"Are you OK?" Kirito asked timidly, he was not used to social interactions, especially considering this player was of the other gender. The girl was about his age, slightly shorter, rather good-looking, and visibly distressed. Her shoulder-length black hair contrasted with her light-blue shirt under her leather armor, and under her dress the girl's legs were trembling.

"I... I..." The girl sobbed, and suddenly collapsed onto her knees and began crying.

"..." Kirito could do nothing but stand there in silence.

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"I guess we'll part ways here. Thank you for saving our lives." The young man thanked Kirito as he escorted the three back to [Starting City]. The walk back took a good hour, since all three players were exhausted mentally.

"Uh... no problem... I'm sorry that it turned out this way..." Kirito apologized, even though it wasn't really his fault, somewhere deep inside he regretted being powerless to save the other people in the group.

Watching the players begin to walk off, Kirito turned around to head his way. Suddenly, the girl, Mika, grabbed Kirito's sleeve.

"Would you like me to walk you to your place?" Kirito asked, and the girl nodded. Kirito sighed, it was the consequences of his actions, so he might as well see everything through.

While walking through the city, Kirito noticed that Mika did not let go of his sleeve. While he felt awkward, he understood the girl's anxiety so he didn't say anything. They walked past the [Black Palace], past the [Monument of Life], the [Living Area], and into the room that Mika had rented. Once inside, the timid girl spoke to Kirito.

"Thanks for saving me, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Kirito asked.

"Can you stay by my side forever?"

"?!" Kirito was shocked at the girl's sudden confession, and was completely speechless.

"If I give you everything, can you stay by me and protect me?" Mika repeated her request, a quiver showing in her voice.

A trade window popped up in front of Kirito, and the list quickly filled up with items.

"It's not about that... I didn't save you to get money or items from you."

"Then how about this?" By this time the tears formed in the eyes of the girl. She took a step back, and started manipulating the menu.

Kirito barely had time to respond to the next events, as he witnessed Mika armor disappear in a shower of light. The girl had unequipped all her armor which hid her slim figure, and all that she had on was a aqua-colored set of undergarments with frilly lace decorations. Looking at Kirito with an embarrassed expression, she took a breath and continued to operate the menu.

Panicking, Kirito closed his eyes and turned around, though he could still hear the 'sparkle effect' of clothing being removed. Shortly after, two arms wrapped around his body and he could feel Mika's warmth against his back, dangerously compromising his sanity.

"If I give you all of myself, could you please protect me?" Mika's voice was somehow suddenly full of temptation, and Kirito felt a sense of dizzyness. He had never even dated a girl, so a predicament as this was completely out of the world for him. He was sure that Mika would hear his rapid heartbeat, as his reason slowly succumbed to his impulses. Voices tempted him to give in to his desires and settle down in [Starting City], where he would be able to settle down with a girl and enjoy his days.

He would be able to give up the harsh daily routine of putting his life in danger, as well as the routine grind of leveling each day. He could spend his days with this girl that relied on him, and he could likely have an enjoyable time. Most importantly, he could just sit back and let the other players take the risk of and clearing, while he stayed in a safe area and not risk his life.

But before Kirito's reason lost to temptation, he heard a voice in his head.

_It's not right, you can't run from your problems. You must face them, it is what 'living' truly means._

Like a bucket of cold water, Kirito's impulses were drowned and he regained control. Materializing a [comfortable towel], Kirito turned around and wrapped the towel around Mika, then pulled him into his arms hugging her.

"I'm sorry, but there is no way I can do that, I'm a weakling myself." Kirito said sadly, letting go of the fragile girl that was looking at him like a lost puppy.

"But I can't stop yet... I can't run away from my problems and hide... I'll keep moving even though I'm weak... so that one day I'll become strong. One day I will be able to protect myself and things that are important." Kirito continued, as he turned towards the door.

The girl, holding the towel, raised her hand towards Kirito, but stopped halfway. Kirito never noticed the tears from the girl, or the smile that appeared on her face as he left.

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**Authors Notes:** Well... this chapter probably puts this fanfic into the T-rating... but I think it's was interesting to try to develop this side of Kirito's character.

If there was anything I thought was wrong with the LN and anime, it was that Kirito was too... how should I put it... savvy of everything... I'm going to continue to try to balance things out... hope it doesn't piss off too many people.


	20. Separate Hearts

**Phase 2 - Separate Hearts: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Authors Notes: **Hopefully I didn't make a huge mess with the last chapter... don't worry, I'm not going to pair Kirito with anyone... yet... (Though it was fun imagining Asuna's reactions on finding out about Kirito's encounter... but no...)

**Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)**

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 15th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [09:30]

Location: [Starting City Outskirts]

Players Alive: [9,641]

Game Status: Running

"*Yawn*... what's taking her so long?" Kirito muttered to himself, having arrived for 45 minutes.

Yesterday, Kirito had arranged to meet Asuna, the female solo-player he met yesterday, at 09:00. Until now he still didn't understand the reason that he - a solo beater, would invite her - a solo newbie. Nonetheless here he was standing in the middle of the plaza area near the water-fountain.

All of a sudden, he saw a newspaper float by being blown by the wind, picking it up he read the headline.

**[Daily Argo] [Girls Beware: What to do when a pervert approaches you? Learning about harassment protocols]**

"?!" Kirito gasped in shock as he saw his picture on the paper - to be precise 'his picture of the moment where Asuna slapped him'.

_Argo! When? Why?_ Kirito raged inside...

All of a sudden, a hand slapped his back, sending Kirito's thoughts back into reality. The girl that had slapped his back, was the same girl that slapped his face yesterday.

"Ugh... good morning, Asuna..." Kirito groaned, his back hurting from the slap, even after pain reduction.

"Quickly, let's not waste time, Hentai-kun." Asuna smirked as she passed Kirito, walking towards the exit.

"Wha~?" Kirito is once again caught off guard, as he struggled to keep up with Asuna.

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Reaching the lake area one hour later, Kirito and Asuna began hunting wasps. Kirito concentrated on playing a support role, mainly using his throwing picks to weaken the wasps while Asuna dealt the finishing blow. After a while the first pop was destroyed, and the two took a break.

"Come to think of it, where did the [Giant Wasp] go?" Asuna asked, it seemed like she had opened up slightly to Kirito, as she seemed to be more talkative today. Unfortunately, this time her question brought up a subject that Kirito didn't want to discuss.

"I killed it yesterday night while I was getting my blade back. Which reminds me, open your trade window?" Kirito said to Asuna, as he sent her a trade request.

"What's this? [Wind Fleuret]?" Asuna asked, while she accepted the trade.

"Try equipping it." Kirito suggested, and as Asuna equipped the weapon her expression changed, grabbing Kirito's collar she asked.

"How do you get more? Do we just kill more [Giant Wasps]? How can I get them to spawn?"

"STOP." Kirito suddenly snapped, "Don't get the [Giant Wasp] to spawn. The last one killed 9 people before it was killed..." At this point Asuna stopped, and stuttered her response.

"It killed 9 people? I spawned that monster that killed 9 people?"

"No, you didn't, the spawn was random... but the [Giant Wasp] did kill 9, so it's definitely a dangerous mob. Let's go elsewhere OK?" Kirito quickly said, noticing that Asuna's expression looked similar to the other girl that he met yesterday.

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Leading Asuna deeper into the center of the floor, Kirito walked into the swamp area where [Swamp Kobald Troopers] resided.

"Since you've already experienced the [Disarm] ability of the mobs, we might as well get used to dealing with the scenarios where our weapons are disarmed." Kirito said as he engaged one of the Kobalds.

"Later on, the [quickchange] skill can be used to switch a weapon from your inventory, but it uses a skill slot, and to be honest I'd rather use it for other skills."

Asuna watched as the Kobald activated the [Disarm] skill, and noted the Kobald's preparation motion. Absorbing the information, she started moving her own sword emulating the act of counterattacking.

"Personally, I also use this method to prevent [Disarms]... "Kirito continues, drawing another [Anneal Blade] and stabbing it in the ground. Allow a Kobald to [Disarm] him, Kirito quickly picks up his other blade and decimates the Kobald.

Asuna looks in silence as Kirito continues his little lecture

"In combat there will be time where you will need to retreat strategically, sort of like yesterday's battle. If your weapon happens to be 'lost', you will need to reclaim it within 3600 seconds, otherwise you lose the possession status on the weapon. Weapons that are not claimed after an hour steadily lose durability, until they are destroyed."

At this point, Asuna cut in, "Wouldn't it be simpler to not to ever get [Disarmed] in the first place? Also, why are you telling me all this in the first place?"

Kirito, surprised at both Asuna's intervention, and what she said, stopped for a moment to think about what she said.

_She's right, why am I talking so much, I don't recall talking to someone so much before. Was it because of yesterday's incident, that made me want to prevent any further deaths? Was it because I was helpless to help the people yesterday? Or was it just because I wanted to talk to somebody?_

Seeing Kirito's expression change for the worse, Asuna changed the topic. "So in short, what you're saying is that if I get [Disarmed], then don't try to pick up the weapon, but grab another weapon in my inventory right?"

Walking towards the Kobald, Asuna materialized a [Dull Rapier] and stuck it in the ground, then started fighting the [Swamp Kobald Trooper], while Kirito watched. Watching Asuna's fight, he noticed that she was fighting differently than from yesterday, her movements had become safer, and did not feel as she was tight-rope walking.

At that moment, Kirito started to understand the reason he wanted to accompany Asuna - he did not want harm to come to those who he had the ability to help. It was a different feeling from what he felt during Kayaba's tutorial, or his speech to the crowds the day after, this time he felt a personal attachment. The feeling of being able to help someone that he could associate with, much like the sense of belonging when he helped Klein out.

Kirito had always found it hard to find his place in life, even before he first touched the realm of online. Even before he found out the truth about his parents, he felt out of place with his foster family. Kirito instinctive felt a sense of separation from his foster parents, which was the reason he eventually found out about his birth origins. The only exception was Suguha, who did not know that they were actually cousins. He thought about how he treated Suguha in the last several years, and began to regret his actions.

Now, in this game, this reality, he had found that he actually belonged, or wanted to belong here. He was able to shape the way his live turns out, and even affected greatly the fate of all the players in this game. Nonetheless, he knew of his insecurities, and his past shadows. He was always a loner, and was at his best when he was alone. Now that he had people that he could call friends, it gave him pressure, since he had an expectation to live up to. He didn't want to let down the people that were around him.

_No, it's not that I don't want to, it's that I CANNOT let them down. I must not let harm come to the people around me._

"Kirito-kun?" Asuna's voice suddenly came up beside Kirito, causing him to jump.

"Uh... Asuna...-san?" Kirito stuttered as he looked at Asuna.

"You're right... maybe you should stick to "Asuna"... you're really terrible when it comes to honorifics. Maybe I should just revert to 'Hentai-kun' when I talk to you."

"..."

"I'm joking... and I thought I was the serious one. Anyways, let's move on, I've pretty much got the hang of these creatures." Asuna changed the subject, noting that Kirito had an odd expression on his face.

"No problem, let's move onto the village." Kirito replied, returning to his normal self.

_Yup, I mustn't let them down, and to do so I'll have to become stronger._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

At the next village, the two players sat on a log outside the barn. Asuna watched in surprise as Kirito brought out a round, black-colored object - [black-bread], sold for 1 col at all food NPC's, the cheapest of foods.

Asuna was no stranger to the bread, as it was the only thing she had consumed in the 9 days of SAO, along with a bottle of water that was refillable almost everywhere. Asuna was never interested in eating, even in real life she only ate for sustenance, and she was annoyed at that fact that she needed to eat even in a _Virtual _world. However, after eating black-bread Asuna regretted not enjoying her real food more.

Looking at Kirito with amazement, Asuna realized that Kirito summoned the bread because he wanted to eat it, as neither of them was actually poor enough to require such food (or a poor excuse of something called 'food')

"Wait, you're planning to eat that?!" Asuna could not stay silent any further.

"Of course, it's actually pretty good..." Kirito replied, at this point Asuna gave him a look of disgust. "... after you add a bit of a twist"

Asuna stayed silent as Kirito pressed on his menus and summoned a pot of something.

"The trick is to use this on the bread. Oh, that means to tap on the pot then tap the bread, like this" Kirito explained, and with his two taps and a small sound effect, the black bread was smeared with a rich layer of white. "Here."

Receiving the bread from Kirito, Asuna took a bite, her eyes widening at the sensation. The dry and coarse bread she was used to eating had transformed into something unbelievable, becoming a deluxe creamy pastry with a lovely texture. The smooth and sweet taste of the cream mixed perfectly with the slightly crunchy texture of the bread, and Asuna could even taste the light yogurt-like sourness in the cream. It was as if all her dormant taste buds were awakened in one go, and her senses were overwhelmed with heaven.

Kirito looked at Asuna with a knowing grin, as she continued to eat her bread in a dream-like state.

"I take it you enjoyed the bread?" Kirito teased Asuna, as she regained her senses and realized what had happened.

"I... uh... " Asuna was speechless... her face turning red in embarrassment. Getting up, she turned around and muttered in a vanishing voice, "Thanks for the meal"

Watching Asuna walk towards the exit, Kirito grinned as he dealt the next blow, "Would you like to know how I got the pot of [Fresh Cream]? It's a quest rewa..."

Witnessing a speed approaching the limits allowed by the Cardinal system, Kirito watched as Asuna turned around, ran towards him, and grabbed him on the collar.

"Tell me..." Asuna demanded, her eyes bloodshot and glowing.

"Ugh... The quest's called 'Cow's Counterattack', and it was the one that I just handed in. Wait... don't go rushing out yet" Kirito grabbed Asuna's arm before she ran off to the barn. "You'll need to kill 50 cows, but there's a kill counter that will spawn a stronger mob every 20 cows killed. In the worst case scenario, there's a 10% chance that the counter spawns [The Angry Bull], a level 8 field-boss mob that is slightly weaker than [The Giant Wasp] that we encountered."

"It'll be fine. Let's go!" Asuna spoke confidently, dragging Kirito into the barn.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

"Well, thanks for today." Asuna said cheerfully, she had obtained 2 pots of [fresh cream] by redoing the quest twice, and had leveled to level 8 at the same time.

"No problem" Kirito's tired expression contracted Asuna's cheerfulness, as he was drained both mentally and physically. To make things worse he didn't even get to really level, as the cows were under-level at his current standing. Even the 'Angry Bull' that they popped did not pose much of a threat, having leveled to 12 at this point.

_It's probably time to start searching for the floor boss, since it'll be hard to level further at this floor... but first I should return to [Starting City] to complete my equipment upgrades._

Having reached Tolbana, Kirito spoke to Asuna.

"This is the town of [Tolbana], the closest town from the 1st floor's labyrinth area. The labyrinth contains the hardest mobs of this level, and should be treaded with caution."

"So at the end of the labyrinth is the boss of the 1st floor right?" Asuna asked.

"Yes, but DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT ATTACKING IT SOLO!" Kirito barked, which slightly startled Asuna, she had entertained the thought, but didn't expect Kirito to freak out.

"Who said I was planning to? Besides, why do I have to listen to you? I've only known you for 2 days." Asuna snapped back.

Kirito fell silent, unable to refute her words. Nonetheless he needed to make sure Asuna was not going to jump to her death by being reckless.

"Anyways, I'll be heading back to [Starting City], since I need to upgrade my weapons. You should upgrade your [Wind Fleuret] there as well, since I wouldn't advice using the blacksmith NPC's here for upgrades past +4. You'll see more players come to this village soon hopefully, so if you want to enter the labyrinth I suggest you join a party with the players. In the meantime, try to level in this area, leaving a level gap of 2... no 3 levels for safety." Kirito cautioned carefully. "Also, be careful not to engage field bosses, they usually have a special attack mode once they hit their last HP bar, and are never safe to solo..."

Asuna cut him short by pulling out her rapier. "Look, I can take care of myself, so don't you tell me what to do and what not to do. Just go ahead and don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Kirito held his hands in resignation, "OK. Just making sure... in any case, I'm guessing that in a few days the first floor boss discussion will start, I'll see you then, and keep reading the [Argo's Newspaper]"

Watching the rapier-user stick her tongue at him, Kirito turned around and left the village.

"Don't die, Asuna." He muttered as he slowly walked out of Tolbana, ending his one-day party with someone who might eventually become his friend or biggest foe.

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**Author Notes:**

Phew... another chapter... I hate having to stick relatively close to the canon storyline, even if it's an AU... there were so many nice moments in SAO:Progressive, yet I can't reuse the same scenes otherwise it'd be boring.

I'm sure readers of the LN noted the parts about the [wind fleuret], the [black-bread], and all those bits... I tried reincorporating these elements in the 'what-if' scenario where the SAO clearing schedule was pushed a little forward due to Kirito's tutorial.

Anyways, enough ranting on my part... thanks for your continued reading. Please R&R if you have time :)

BTW, I haven't forgotten about the bath scene... lol


	21. Back to the Starting Line

**Phase 2 - Back to the Starting Line: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**I'll be physically on the plane shortly, so don't expect a chapter tomorrow. Hope to have the next chapter up the day after.**

**Authors Notes: **The only problem about Kirito being so OP in the LN to begin with, is the fact that I have to keep him from getting OOP... lol... that's why Kirito's going to have WAY more downtime... and he knows it too. Anyways...

**Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)**

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 15th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [22:00]

Location: [Tolbana Outskirts]

_Finally! I've collected the materials... it's been a while since I've had time to solo by myself. Come to think of it... in terms of hours I've spent WAY more time compared to the beta, and yet here I am on the first floor, and my equipment isn't even maxed for this floor yet._

Kirito laments his decreased progress in comparison to the CBT, as he finally collects enough material to reduce his cost for upgrading his equipment.

"Well... guess it's too late to head back to [Starting City], guess I'll sleep first and head there first thing in the morning" Kirito mumbles to himself, having tired himself out over the events of the day.

Arriving at the farmhouse that he rented for the next week, Kirito walked up the stairs and into his room. Opening his menus, he sends several messages to the people on his friends list.

(Klein: How's your group doing? I'm heading to [Starting City] tomorrow, so if you're around send me a message.)

(Silica: How are you? Just wondering. I'll be coming to [Starting City], thought I'd drop by and say hi.)

(Argh: WHY DID YOU POST MY PICTURE ON THE NEWSPAPER? AND OF ALL THINGS FOR THE HARASSMENT WARNING?)

Pressing the 'send' button, Kirito lies on his bed and submits himself to the darkness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 16th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]

Location: [Starting City]

"Yo Kirito! How's it going?" Klein waved his [Iron Scimitar] in the air greeting Kirito, who waved back. Beside Klein, the little girl bowed at Kirito.

" morning, Kirito-san" Silica greeted timidly.

"Ah... how come Silica is so shy around Kirito?" Klein teased the girl

"Klein-san!" Silica chided Klein for his remark, giving the red-haired bandit a mean look.

Kirito chuckled at the exchange, it was good to see them getting along.

"So how have things been here?" Kirito asked

"Not bad, we've got a good portion of the players learning how to use [sword skills], and those that have mastered it have started hunting in groups of 12 right outside [Starting City]." Klein responded

"Coper-san has been helping out a lot, and has been sharing many tips on how to survive. He always reminds the players the most important thing is to 'Never harm other players', and that it was a lesson he almost learnt with his death." Silica continued where Klein left off. "Meanwhile Diabel-san formed large group of players a few days ago, and said they were going to start heading for the front line. He mentioned that the floor boss meeting would probably be soon."

Kirito nodded, as things were moving on similar to his expectations.

"That's great, I'm glad you guys are here. I don't think I could have done any of that." Kirito smiled at the two, who gave him a surprised look.

"What do you mean? YOU started all this, if it wasn't for you most of the players would still be hiding in fear, or worse maybe even dead." Klein retorted.

"But still, if you guys didn't follow through, many would still have perished." Kirito spoke with a solemn voice

"True... even by our best efforts, we still lost almost 400 people already." Silica added sadly.

"356 to be exact. Of which 255 were former beta-testers, it would seem that knowledge of the beta seems to be detrimental to players." A high-pitched voice joined our conversation, her special nasal inflections giving away her identity.

"Before that, WHY DID YOU PUT MY PICTURE THERE ARGO?!" Kirito shook Argo by the shoulders.

Argo smirked, "And THAT is why we need harassment protocols. Silica-chan, if Kii-bou does that to you, make sure you send him into prison."

Kirito let go in resignation, as he glanced at the now red-faced Silica, returning his sights to Argo, he continued. "So somehow we've helped the new players out right? Do you think there's a way to let everyone know that the beta players are actually doing worse? It would help alleviate the tension between beta players and new players..."

"Probably not, at least not without giving away the identities of most of the beta players." Argo responded, "Anyways, that's all that my sources have, so enough chit-chat, what is Kii-bou doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the labyrinth already, or have you already found the boss' room?"

"I wish" Kirito responded, "I'm just coming back to upgrade my equipment."

"Upgrade equipment?" Klein and Silica asked simultaneously

"And on this floor the best place is to find the blacksmith in [Starting City]." Argo added.

"Well... since you guys haven't been travelling out too far yet, you probably haven't obtained the 'best weapon' for the current level." Kirito started to explain, "For example, my [Anneal Blade] is currently the best 'one-handed straight sword' that I can get on the first floor."

"Around the third floor I can get drops that are better than this weapon, but if I upgrade my [Anneal Blade], then I should be able to use this sword until the forth or even the fifth floor."

"So basically, you can choose to upgrade your weapon instead of buying new ones" Klein noted.

"Kirito-san, do you know what the best weapons for us are so far?" Silica asked.

"Well... let's see..." Kirito paused a moment, and then opened his menu. "Actually, I think I might have something for you two." Materializing two weapons, he continues.

"So far there isn't much for curved blades, but this [Steel Scimitar] from the [Swamp Kobald Trooper Leader] is the best weapon for this floor. As for daggers, I got this from a new field boss, it's called [The Sting]." Kirito said as he passed the weapons to Klein and Silica.

"Ehhh... how about me?" Argo complained

"You already have [Felicia's claws], though I don't know how you managed to reach level 10 already..." Kirito replied

"Well... let's say I negotiated for them... I'm only level 6 afterall..." Argo let out a small laugh as she waved her claws in front of Kirito.

_Mental note, don't get on Argo's bad side._ Kirito thought.

"So I guess our next destination's been decided, let's go to the blacksmith to upgrade" Kirito led the group up the alleyway to the market district.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

"Welcome to [Starting Strong], the biggest and best armory and weapon shop in [Starting City]" A female voice greeted Kirito's group as they entered the store, the owner of the voice was slightly shorter than Kirito, had short brown hair and eyes, and freckles on her cheeks.

As Kirito walked by, he noted that the voice seemed stiff and nervous, and muttered. "Was that an NPC? seemed awfully stiff for a greeting though..."

"Who said I was an NPC?" The voice suddenly errupted, " and sorry if I'm not used to greeting customers, it's hard enough to stay alive in this game."

Kirito turned around, to see a girl with her hands on her waist, glaring at Kirito in a less-than-friendly way. Realizing that she was a player, he quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I didn't expect a player would be working at an NPC owned shop. We're looking for the blacksmith."

"Well, now you have. I'm trying to learn to be a blacksmith, as well as earning some col in the process. Anyways, this way please... _dear customers_." The girl replied, still glaring at Kirito.

Nudging his ribs, Argo whispered "You've really got a knack at handling girls don't you..."

"Don't remind me..." Kirito sighed.

"Here is the blacksmith, are you planning to upgrade or buy weapons?" The girl pointed to the blacksmith, and was standing behind and anvil, hammering away.

"I'll go first." Kirito said, as he took out the [Anneal Blade 3S1D] from the party leader of the party that fell to [The Giant Wasp].

"Which stat would you like to upgrade? You can choose between: 'Sharpness', 'Quickness', 'Accuracy', 'Heaviness', and 'Durability'. " The girl continued, as Kirito was mildly impressed how she is much more proficient when it comes to technical terms.

"I'll upgrade this for durability, twice, maximum chance."

"?!" The girl was shocked as she held the blade, she opened the menu and realized the sword was already refined 6 times out of 8.

"Uh... do you have enough col for this?" Hardly the way to deal with customers, but the girl still asked the question.

Kirito opened his menu, and took out 2000 col, then handing it to the girl whose eyes opened wide in surprise.

"That should be enough right?" Kirito asked, which the girl nodded silently.

Everyone watched as the NPC blacksmith took Kirito's [Anneal Blade], and after a while, whether it was due to sheer luck or something else, Kirito was handed his [Anneal Blade 3S3D]

"That's quite a weapon you have there." Argo commented

"Well... it's now our turn..." Klein was shaking in excitement.

"Actually... " Kirito wanted to say something, but changed his mind as he pulled out more coins. "Here, I'll pay for the upgrades.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

Argo, Silica, Klein and Kirito left the store one hour later, having finished their equipment upgrading. Between the four of them, their upgraded equipment would probably be able to light up the streets.

"OK... let's go level!" Klein shouted enthusiastically.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

"Take this! Ha!" Klein slashed the level 8 [Overgrown Lizard] with his newly acquired sword skill [Crescent Slash], shattering the mob into polygons. Behind him, Silica takes to the air as she dodged the Slash of another Lizard, then rained multiple quick stabs to it with her skill [Rapid Bite], the Lizard's HP taking multiple cuts, then hit zero as the mob erupted. "I did it! Level 8!" Silica exclaimed excitedly.

Standing on the sidelines, Kirito watched the two fight as he asked his remaining companion. "Don't you have to level up as well?"

Argo gave Kirito a grin. "My main weapon is my information, so as long as I'm a few levels above average then I'm not too concerned. Besides..." She then grabs his arm and teases, "if anything happens to me you'll come to my rescue right?"

Kirito sighed "You know there will be times where you're ambushed by mobs and the likes right? Or even worse, if there were players that wanted to harm you, it might be dangerous. At least keep within the top group..."

"Che..." Letting go of Kirito, Argo stepped towards another Lizard, complaining, "You're really no fun Kirito, I'm wonder how you're going to get a girlfriend..."

"Don't worry about me!" Kirito snapped back, as he pointed to the Lizard that was about to attack. It would seem that his worry was for naught, as Argo's [Double Swipe] quickly disposed of the attacking Lizard.

Kirito was pleased with the results, the weapons of his companions have been strengthened considerably, and at this point they were able to take on mobs that were almost 2 levels higher without too much danger.

"Come to think of it, I never knew there was a leveling location so close to [Starting City], though it's pretty dangerous for the new players." Kirito remarked "It's a nice thing that there were guardian NPC's warning the players who are about to enter."

"Yup, we were really surprised the first time we got here. Almost got everyone killed..." Klein stuck his tongue out at the recollection, "and we've just started hitting the [Small Lizards] back a few days ago. And yet here we are deep into the forest... "

"We'll be fine as long as we stick together and be careful" Kirito reassured, "In worse case you guys can run and I'll cover the retreat."

"Isn't Kirito-san also going to fight? You've been watching us for a while now." Silica suddenly asked, as she finished off her attacker.

"Well, I'm just taking a little break today, besides these mobs are a little too low in level" Kirito answered, trying not to seem to conceited.

"In other words, he's bragging about how high-leveled he is." Argo, true to her nickname, ratted Kirito out. "What level are you anyways? Probably 10 or maybe close to 11? That's the highest level I've gathered from my sources so far, then again you're definitely an exception."

"12..." Kirito's reply shocked even the poker-faced information broker.

"No wonder you're so laid back..." Argo snorted, "Just how many field bosses have you been fighting? I can't think of any mobs on this floor that would give enough xp."

"A few... anyway... this area is done, so let's move on." Kirito quickly escaped, moving deeper into the forest.

"Haha... that's our 'beater'... " Klein laughed, following Kirito down the path.

Reaching the end of the path, Kirito came to the entrance of a cave, he could tell that the entrance led down into the earth, and he could feel an immense amount of heat radiating from the cave.

"Should we go down there?" Klein asked, as he caught up to Kirito. Kirito looked at his companions, and made his decision.

"I guess we shouldn't, it looks pretty dangerous for now. Maybe if you gather you group we'll come back as a larger party. The path also leads to the mountains, let's go there."

Heading up the path, the group made their way up the mountains. Turning around, they could see the far stretches of the first floor, and beyond that the limitless skies filled with other floating islands similar to Aincrad.

"So pretty." Silica exclaimed, as she ran around to admire the view. As Klein sat down on a rock to rest, Kirito turned to Argo. "So what do you think of Diabel's group?"

"Well, honestly they're not at the level of the best beta clearers from what I know, but they seem to show potential. Diabel seems to be a pretty competent leader, and he had indepth knowledge of this game." Argo responded. Neither of them commented on whether the player were beta participants, as this was the unspoken rule between participants of the beta - to never give out the identities of other beta players.

"So it's probably going to occur soon, the floor boss meeting. I hope we can get more players at the level before it happens. It's be nice to have a full 48 player raid full of 10+ players." Kirito commented, though he knew very well that it was going to be hard to obtain.

"Argo, can I ask you to introduce the players to this area, as it seems like a good area to level once players reach level 5. The mobs are well spread out, have simple attack patterns, and are pretty easy to kill. Most importantly, there does not seem to be a boss aro..."

Their conversation is cut short by a scream from the summit, followed by a shriek of what appears to be a mob. Kirito instantly dashes towards the scream, who he recognized to be Silica's.

Arriving at the scene, Kirito instantly sprung into action, drawing his blade as he attacked the mob. The [Little Golem] - a level 8 mob, had sustained little damage against Silica, who was now in the red. He looked at Silica, who was still frozen in fear, kneeling down with her arms around her body. Then realization hit him as to what probably happened.

"Argo, pot and defend Silica." Kirito commanded as he drew the golem away. He felt ashamed of himself for forgetting one of the basic things he had forgotten ever since the death-game began.

_How could I have forgotten, even if Silica is now level 8, and has strong her equipment, she is still a child who will get scared. For someone as young as her to be pushed in front of danger, and have to face death is still too cruel. I'm sorry Silica._

Finishing his golem half-heartedly, Kirito returned to Silica, who was crying profusely at this point.

"I'm sorry Silica, let's go back home." Kirito apologized as she lifted Silica in his arms and carried her down the mountain. Klein and Argo silently followed, making sure that no complications would arise.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

"Well, I'm going off to find my group now. We'll be hitting the same area again, so we'll map out the mobs around level 5-8 while we're at it." Klein waved his hand as he headed back to the field, as Kirito and Argo accompanied Silica back to the Church where the other children were being taken care of by a gentle woman named Sasha.

"I'm OK, Kirito-san. Can you let me come with you guys?" Silica, who had calmed down after the ordeal, pleaded to Kirito so that she could stay.

"Let's take a day's break first Silica, it must have been hard on you. I'm sorry that I didn't consider you when we went leveling today." Kirito apologized again, despite how the others tried to convince Kirito that it wasn't his fault.

"I'm really OK, I was just a little shocked and all. Besides, I'm glad that Kirito-san came to level with us, so there's no way it could be your fault." Silica responded.

"No, it was my fault, probably from the first day. If I didn't teach you [Sword Skills], then you'd never be out in the fields. I almost got you killed today, just as I'm going to get a lot of players killed. It's my fau.."

A slap hit Kirito across the face, stopping his words. Kirito looked at Silica, who had started crying again.

"Kirito-san no baka!" Silica cried out before she turned around and ran towards the church.

"Guess I've been hated now haven't I?" Kirito said, as he held his face, which was slightly numb despite the pain-reduction protocol imposed by SAO. Beside him, Argo gave a long sigh and punched him in the shoulder.

"She was right about one thing, Kii-bou REALLY is stupid..." Argo words hurt much more than her punch, as she walked off and disappeared into the shadows.

Dejected, Kirito walked back down the street, thinking about what had happened. He had tried his best, and did what he thought was the proper thing to do. Still, things didn't go well for them, and he kept on making mistake after mistake.

_I guess I really should have just stuck with being a lonely solo'er..._

"Hey you! Mr. Swordsman" A slightly familiar voice interrupted Kirito's self-loathing. He turned around, and saw the person that was standing in front of the weapon shop earlier today.

"You're strong right? I need to get something from a dungeon, and I'd like to get your help."

"Where's this dungeon?" Kirito asked half-heartedly, still distracted from what just happened a while ago.

"It's just outside the city, in the forest trail that's guarded by NPC's." The girl replied. She had replaced her morning clothing with a leather light-armor, and under her short-skirt she equipped the standard leather-leg protection.

"You're probably too weak, just tell me what you want and I'll see what I can do." Kirito replied, judging the girl to be around level 4 at most.

"How dare you?" The girl snapped. "I might not be as strong as you, but I'll let you know that I'm still a decent fighter." The girl said, materializing her weapon - a mace that seemed to be upgraded several times.

"You do know that the forest area is not safe for anyone under level 5 right?" Kirito attempted to dissuade the girl again, knowing full well the dangers that were in this dungeon that even the beta testers were unaware of.

"Ah, that's perfect then, I'm level 5. Now let's go, are you helping me or not?"

"Fine... I'm going there anyways... just don't get in my way." Kirito resigned. "I'm Kirito, your name is?"

"Lisbeth. Nice to meet you, Ki-ri-to" The girl smirked at Kirito, skipping his honorifics.

"... same to you. Li-se-beth!" Kirito retorted, returning the favor of skipping honorifics.

As the two headed towards the forest path, a lone figure followed them in the shadows.

**Author Notes:** 1 more, 2 left... You won't see Yui for quite a while, so don't hold your breath... as for Sachi... not until level 3 is cleared... (Wanted to make use of as much original source material as possible.)


	22. Cave of Fire

**Phase 2 - The Cave of Fire: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **

Another AU change... I hope this will make Lisbeth fans happy, I'll try not to ruin her Character.

******Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)**

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 16th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [16:00]

Location: [Starting City Outskirts - Forest Trail Dungeon]

Kirito was impressed at how Lisbeth handled herself, despite being level 5 and spending a lot of time working at an NPC store. Her stance was very secure, if overly simple, and her attacks were powerful, even though reckless at times.

At first, Kirito was amused by the notion of a girl (he dared not to mention 'petite') swinging a mace almost the size of herself, but that quickly faded away as he watched her in combat. He acknowledged that Lisbeth had understood the core fighting style of a mace wielder.

Fighting the [Small Lizard] in the same field that Klein and Silica fought this morning, Lisbeth used a much more defensive approach, blocking most of the Lizards attacks until an opening was available, then hitting it fast and hard. Using a clever combination of [Roundhouse] and [Overhead Smash], Lisbeth's mace flattened the mobs quickly.

Her upgraded weapon was likely imbued with the 'heaviness' stat, as the mob were unable to block it despite being a level higher. Kirito was impressed how Lisbeth put much thought into her weapon upgrading, and felt that she too would probably make a power front-liner one day.

_STOP! I shouldn't be thinking this all the time. I have to let players themselves decide whether they want to risk their lives on the front lines._

Quickly dispel his thoughts, Kirito complimented. "I take back about what I thought of you, you're actually pretty good at handling that mace."

"And may I ask what your initial impression was?" Lisbeth didn't seem happy despite Kirito's compliments, as she continued to head down the path.

"I thought since you're spending a lot of time working as a store clerk, that you'd spend minimal time on the field." Kirito thought up an excuse quickly.

"Sure... I'll give you a 7 for that excuse, just because you're helping me out." Lisbeth reacted even faster.

The two continued to bicker while fighting along the forest trail, and finally reached the cave that Kirito passed earlier.

"You're joking right?" Kirito asked in a serious tone, he instinctively knew that the monsters inside the cave were dangerous.

"We should be fine, I'm already level 6, and if all goes well we shouldn't even have to fight." Lisbeth suggested optimistically.

Kirito sighed... "I hope you're not serious about that. In this game a single mistake could cost you your life, so let's not take chances. Once you hit level 7 we'll go in."

"Fine, but you'd better keep your promise." Lisbeth gave in, seeing that Kirito was serious about the cave being dangerous.

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It took another 2 hours for Lisbeth to reach level 7, and in his boredom Kirito had messaged his friends about the earlier incident. He wanted to make sure that Silica was safe so he got Klein to keep her company, and he also asked Argo to keep an eye on her in case she heads off herself.

[Klein: "You're acting more and more like a possessive brother there..."]

[Argo: "Be careful, Kii-bou, you're only a few steps away from becoming a pedo... haha"]

As expected, he did not get a reply from Silica, who he thought was still mad at him.

_It couldn't be helped though... it's still better than dragging Silica into the field of fire..._

Returning to reality, he turned to Lisbeth. "So, why are you coming out here to fight mobs? It can't be because you want to join the front lines as a fighter, otherwise you should be heading to the frontlines at Tolbana."

"Actually, I'm here to look for some materials for Grando, our blacksmith." Lisbeth replied, "He has a blacksmith hammer that he wanted to refine, but needed several [Ore of Fire] in order to complete the last refines. I'm hoping to help him complete his quest, so that his refine rates would be higher. One day, I would like to become a blacksmith myself and help players forge and maintain weapons, so that they'll survive to clear SAO."

Kirito was surprised at Lisbeth's response, he had not encountered such a player before, and was very impressed at her motives. Usually in MMO games, players of the game always want to be where the action is, whether it be a FPS, racing, or RPG game. There were very few people that were willing to concentrate on supporting, and those who did mainly were alternative accounts created to earn money for the main character.

_I must say SAO's death-game structure gets the merit of creating these players, as normally MMORPG players would never consider a supporting role. It's good to know that some players are experiencing SAO from a different perspective._

"Sounds like an ambitious goal, let's get to it then." Kirito rallied his spirits, and walked towards the cave, with Lisbeth following. All of a sudden, Kirito stops, and starts looking around.

"What's wrong?" Lisbeth asks.

"Nothing... let's go inside... guess it was my imagination.." Kirito muttered as he stepped down the stairs of the cave, Lisbeth following right after.

A few moments later, a small figure comes out of the foliage, and stands at the cave.

"Phew, I thought Kirito-san discovered me. I really shouldn't underestimate his [Searching] skill. Well, I'm level 9 now, so I should be safe too right? But first, I have to make sure I have enough healing potions and antidotes." The girl runs her hands through her belt pockets, then draws her dagger [The Sting], confirming its durability.

The girl takes a deep breath, and says to herself. "OK, let's go."

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Inside the cave, Kirito and Lisbeth were bothered by the high temperature inside the cave. Luckily SAO had no functions emulating sweating and effects of heat, otherwise both players would likely be in danger of having a stroke. Nonetheless, the heat was affecting their ability to concentrate.

"If I knew it was going to be so hot, I'd wear shorts and sandels." Kirito joked.

"As long as you don't start imagining me in a bikini, now let's go quickly so we can leave." Lisbeth snapped, clearly bothered by the heat of the cave as well.

Their plans of quickly finding the ore and leaving were dismissed as they arrived in the first opening in the cave. A dozen Lizards occupied the field, which Kirito identified them as level 8 [Fire Lizards].

"Stay back as I test one of them out, since I've never seen these before." Kirito stepped forward, forcing Lisbeth to stand behind him.

"Okay." Lisbeth obeyed, understanding the danger that was ahead.

Drawing his [Anneal Blade (Dark)], Kirito lunged forward and engaged the first [Fire Lizard], cutting a long red mark on its back. Immediately Lisbeth noticed Kirito's avatar flashing red, as if he was engulfed in flames.

"Looks like these Lizards reflect a portion of the damage back as fire damage.. interesting" Kirito explained, to Lisbeth's panic.

"Don't just calmly explain the damage to me, you're getting yourself damaged." Lisbeth yelled, to which Kirito smiled.

"These lizards are fine... just one can't hurt me too badly, it's actually a good chance to improve my [Battle Healing]." Kirito joked as he finished off the first [Fire Lizard], then started luring the rest of them towards him.

"Let's see... with 4 lizards attacking me, my HP will start to go down a bit, so my safety margin would probably be three. OK, I'm done Lisbeth, you head down the far path a bit while I lure them, then I'll catch up." Kirito told Lisbeth, as he finished another 4 Lizards.

Lisbeth quickly heads in the direction that Kirito pointed to, hammering away a [Fire Lizard] in the process. "Ouch.. that took 10% off me just in recoil." she complained as she headed down.

Quickly losing the remaining 6 with a quick [Stun Slash], Kirito follows Lisbeth down the path.

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After 15 minutes, Kirito and Lisbeth reached an area that resembled a large pit, with the path spiraling down into the depths within. Taking a deep breath, Lisbeth looked down.

"Guess it's down there somewhere..." She gulped.

"EEK!" A pat on her back sent her jumping, and she turned around to a grinning Kirito.

"You scared the living daylights out of me! I'll have you know that if I fall, I'll be pulling you in and using you as a landing cushion! You'd better hope there something soft like hay or a couple feet of snow to break your fall!" Lisbeth cried out, strangling Kirito as she gripped his collar.

"Ha... *cough*... sorry... I couldn't resist" Kirito replied, and as she let go he began walking down the stairs.

The stairs went down a good 20 turns, and Kirito figured they were deep into the ground. It was ironic that a floating castle had so much 'underground' to explore.

_I wonder if I dig deeper, would I fall from the floating castle and end up in a different world? Well... I'd need to grow wings before I attempted that..._

Kirito's musings were brought back to reality as he noticed a faint red light, at the bottom of the pit. Making out a doorway, Kirito quickly rushed into the hallway, with Lisbeth following closely.

At the end of the hallway, Kirito saw the shadows of another group of mobs, taking a few more steps he registered the mobs.

[Red goblins] - Level 10, Kirito let out a frown as he counted the numbers. There were 12 goblins there, and if they were consistent with SAO's designs (as they always were), then the goblins had a high chance of being room-guardians, protecting the closed door at the other end of the room. At level 12 it might be dangerous to take them alone, but if Lisbeth joined in then her life might be in danger.

"What are you waiting for?" Lisbeth asked, "Let's finish them and move on."

"It's really dangerous in there." Kirito warned.

"It's OK, I trust your abilities, and I hope I've gained you trust at this point? Just don't let too many get near me and I'll fend them off as long as I can." Lisbeth grinned, her eyes glimmering with determination.

"Are you sure?"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"OK, on 3. 3... 2...1... GO!" Kirito yelled as he charged in, throwing ten picks at two mobs as he then drew his sword. The picks hit two of the goblins, reducing their HP to half. Kirito ran past the two leading goblins and began his assault on the remaining ten. As the two leading goblins turned around to face Kirito, a mace's [Roundhouse] depleted their remaining HP.

"These ones don't reflect damage" Lisbeth cheered as she recovered her stance after taking two goblins in one strike, and then quickly confronted another.

Meanwhile, Kirito was engaged in a fierce battle with 6 goblins, he was dodging left and right, as he realized the goblins deal fire damage even if blocked. Even though he had the [Battle Healing], its level was far too low to be depended on. Killing off another goblin, he gave Lisbeth a quick glance.

"Are you doing OK?"

"These goblins are harder than I thought... kya.." Lisbeth cried in pain, as an attack clipped her shoulder, knocking her health down another 10%, she quickly responded with an [Overhead Swing], shattering her persuer.

"Almost done..." Kirito mumbled, having taken the first 6 goblins out, the remaining 3 charged together at him. Before they entered range Kirito darted forwards, and with one [Horizontal] swing, destroyed all three goblins in a single hit.

"Phew" Kirito sighed in relief, as he refilled his throwing pick pouch.

*CREAK* The closed door began to move, revealing the contents of the next room.

The next room was the size of a basketball court, and had many pillars, some were still upright and standard, and others were littered around. In the middle, a red piece of ore lay on top of a pedestal. It was the perfect setup for a ruin - a room that needed a guardian.

_This room doesn't look good for Lisbeth, maybe I should get her to stay back._ Kirito though as he looked to Lisbeth.

"Request Declined" Lisbeth spoke before Kirito even raised the question, "If this is a field boss then we're fighting it together. End of discussion."

"But you can't maneuver in the room." Kirito argued.

"Watch me, I'm not as inflexible as I look." Lisbeth replied as she held her mace and jumped into the air.

"Fine... but at the first sign of trouble fall back OK?" Kirito said as he walked into the room.

Surprisingly, instead of the boss appearing, Kirito's entrance was greeted by silence. Lisbeth walked in as well, confused as to where the boss was.

"Well... that was anti-climatic..." Lisbeth said, walking to the pedestal. Before Kirito could warn her, she took the red ore from the pedestal.

*BAM*

A sudden noise appeared from behind the two players, and the floor shook as if it was an earthquake.

A twenty-foot giant stood towering in front of their exit, his red skin emitted a killing intent and heat waves emitted from the glowing rod that the giant held with his bare hand.

Kirito dashed full speed towards a stunned Lisbeth and pushed her out of the way just as the giant slammed its [Redhot Pole] into the ground, leaving ashes in its wake.

"Lisbeth, move back!" Kirito shouted as he charged towards the giant, scanning its identity.

**[The Guardian of Fire - Trainee] - Level 15**

_This is REALLY bad. _Kirito gulped in silence, as he quickly glanced at Lisbeth - who was paralyzed in fear.

"LISBETH!" Kirito roared, bringing Lisbeth back to her senses, "Try to head to the exit, I'll keep its attention."

Lisbeth could barely respond, as she staggered to the exit slowly. The giant had blocked the straight line path to the exit, so Lisbeth had to go around.

Kirito struggled to keep the Guardian Trainee occupied, concentrating its attacks on its legs and feet. As long as he limited its movement, there would be a way to escape.

All of a sudden, the Guardian stabbed its Pole into the ground, and a shockwave was emitted in all directions, dealing fire damage.

"Ugh" Kirito jumped backwards into the air, as he saw the Guardian's fist coming his way.

_Crap!_ Kirito thought as he desperately tried to block with his sword. As a result he was sent flying towards the exit, hitting the wall with his back.

"Gah!... " Kirito's lungs were emptied out from the impact, and he noticed the 'stun, 5 sec' status appear on his screen beside his now red HP bar.

"Lisbeth... RUN!" Kirito tried to shout, but his voice did not come out. Lisbeth was running towards him and the exit, and the Guardian was close behind, she turned her head in horror as the guardian caught up.

Kirito watched as the Guardian caught up and raise his weapon, he knew that in 1 hit it would deplete Lisbeth's HP, and he was powerless to help.

"I'm sorry" Kirito's loudest howl came out as a whisper.

_I'm sorry, Lisbeth, I should have said no, I shouldn't have dragged you this far._ Kirito's thought echoed in his head, as he watched the Guardian's weapon glow red and come crashing down on Lisbeth.

All of a sudden, a shadow dashed past Kirito towards the Guardian, throwing several picks at the Guardian as she charged [The Sting] against the Guardian's [Redhot Pole]. As the skill [Flash Sting] connects with the Guardian's weapon, both player and mob are sent backwards. The young girl does a quick flip and jumps off a pillar, launching herself at the Guardian once again with [Rapid Bite], then quickly dodging backwards as the Guardian gets up.

"Kirito-san, you shouldn't feel sorry for bringing us out of [Starting City], because you saved us from being consumed by fear. If you had not helped me that day, I would still be crying myself to sleep every night, fearing the day that the city would no longer be safe. You save many people that day, and I was one of them." Silica's words pierced through Kirito's soul, bringing him back from the darkness he was about to submit himself to.

"I'm glad that I met Kirito-san, and I hope Kirito-san does not regret meeting me. While it's true that you brought me to the field, I made the decision to stay, and the decision to become strong. Don't try to put everything on yourself, it's too painful, for you and for the people around you."

_Haha... I guess I really am an idiot... why did I try to pile everything on myself?_

Kirito stood up, the effects of stun having worn out. Quickly manipulating his menus, he consumed a potion, materialized his other [Anneal Blade], and stepped forward.

"Silica... I'm sorry... for being so stupid..." Kirito said, but with a different tone from last time.

"Watch me Kirito-san, I've become stronger, and I'll keep getting stronger, so that one day you'll no longer be able to see me as a little child that needs protecting. I promise you, because that's why you taught me right? So that one day I could become strong and protect someone." Silica gave Kirito a beautiful smile that didn't match someone of her young age, and raised her dagger. "Are you ready?"

"Anytime." Kirito responded confidently. Behind him, Lisbeth had recovered from the shock and joined behind them. "Don't leave me out just yet." She whimpered, still shaken from her near-death experience.

"Don't worry Lisbeth-san, I was just like that a few hours ago. You'll get stronger too, just as I have. Kirito-san will ensure it." Silica spoke with resolution.

"Ready? Let's GO!"

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It took the entirety of 30 minutes to perish [The Guardian Trainee], and the three were exhausted by the end of the ordeal. The upside was that they gained another level, and they had obtained the [Ore of Fire].

A familiar *CREAK* shocked the party, as a hidden trap door opened on the other side of the room.

"I'm going to take just a peek..." Kirito said as he got up and went over to the next room. Entering the room, he didn't believe his eyes...

Floating in the air, was a fiery orb that resembled the ones he possessed. Behind it, a phoenix perched on a cliff, the name clearly visible.

**[Suzaku, The Phoenix Guardian of Fire] - Level ?**

**Author Notes:**

Hmm.. should they try to fight the boss and risk certain death? I wonder... how about no?

Anyways, now that the actors for Floor 1 are all assembled, back to modifying the canon storyline...


	23. Reunions and Partings

**Final Phase - Reunions and Partings: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Almost back to the main storyline... still undecided on Diabel's fate... as well as some other small things. Hmm... who should I kill off? (j/k)

******Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)**

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 19th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [17:00]

Location: [Tolbana East - Kirito's room]

Kirito sat in his rented room, wearing his casual clothes, while all of his battle equipment was laid out in from of him on the table. He had spend the last several days hunting for rare equipment and items for upgrades.

_So far so good, I've pretty much reached the limit for the first floor, at this point all that remains is the floor boss. Well.. excluding that secret mob in the caves I suppose._

Recalling the events several days ago, Kirito still had a lingering fear, he hadn't been that close to death for a while, and the presence of a high-level boss in the cave only cemented his fear.

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"Kirito-san, let's get out of here!" Silica said as he pulled on Kirito's arm, literally dragging him out of the phoenix's room with the help of Lisbeth.

"Snap out of it already, I know you like being dragged around by women but this is getting ridiculous." Lisbeth complained.

Finally snapping out of his trance, Kirito looked at his two companions. "Uh... sorry... I just got caught up in something..."

He was lying, the moment he set eyes on the guardian of the orb, he knew that eventually it would be something that he's have to fight to the death one day. Though at this point he probably wouldn't even be able to lift a finger against it, he was petrified in fear just by the phoenix's aura.

"Anyhow, we've obtained our objectives, and it looks like you've got your problems solved, let's head back?" Lisbeth broke the silence, and suggested they return to town.

"That's right, I'm pretty tired. How about we go get some food to eat? I heard that [Starting City] had a pretty good patisserie with tasty cakes and desserts." Silica suggested.

"I'll treat you to dessert tonight, for saving my life. As for Kirito, he should treat us to cake for making us worry about him." Lisbeth added, which Kirito absent-minded nodded to.

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"That will be 2000 col" the NPC waitress informed Kirito, who grudgingly handed out the payment. He probably would have cried if he was alone.

"There goes my earnings for the day..." Kirito moaned.

"Don't be such a stingy old man, your good deeds will not go unrewarded." Lisbeth laughed, as she finished the last bits of her strawberry pie.

"Uh Kirito-san, if you want I can pay you back for my share." Silica suggested, feeling bad that Kirito ended up paying for everyone's meal.

"It's OK, don't worry about it." Kirito replied, he couldn't bring himself to take advantage of an innocent girl like Silica, but Lisbeth was another story. "You'd better give me a discount..."

"Ah... did you just read my mind? Actually I was planning to help you with your upgrading, so follow me." Lisbeth got up from her seat, and led the party to the NPC shop that she worked at.

"Master, I've obtained the [Ore of Fire] that you requested." Lisbeth yelled into the workshop, where the blacksmith had a "!" mark over his head.

The blacksmith took the [Ore of Fire], and walked into his workshop. Lisbeth motioned his companions to follow.

At the furthest end of the workshop, a silver locked chest was placed in the corner. Opening the lock with the key on his necklace, the Blacksmith took out an old rusted hammer.

"What's he going to do with this?" Kirito wondered.

"I'm guessing that this is the 'legendary hammer passed down the ages' that Master was talking about." Lisbeth explained, though her eyes didn't seem too convinced either.

The blacksmith carried the [Ore of Fire] and [Rusted Hammer] to the furnace, and dropped the two items inside, watching as the items melted and fused to become a glowing mass of red hot metal. Taking his tongs, he pulled the glowing metal onto an anvil, and began to hammer it with his crafting anvil.

After 50 hits, the mass of metal began to transform under a bright multi-color light.

"Wow, so beautiful" Silica exclaimed as the object took the shape of a hammer.

The blacksmith took the new hammer in his hands, and proudly exclaimed that he now had a higher chance of success.

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Back in the present, Kirito looked at the three [Anneal Blades] he now possessed. The two [Anneal Blades] that he had embedded an orb into it were at 6S1D and 5S2D respectively, though these were not the blades that Kirito normally used. The third one at 3S3D, which once belonged to a beta player named Claus, was Kirito's weapon against normal mobs.

Kirito expected to gain unwanted attention since he had a relatively rare weapon, and decided to use the weaker weapon as his daily. Since his level was already at the point where there was no point leveling further, a weaker weapon would not actually cause him to fall in danger of being killed.

_It's be nice to also have the [Orb of Fire] to place into my third blade, though it looks like there's a long time before I can even survive that boss. Guess I'll worry about that later._

Looking at his other equipment, he decided to keep using his second-line equipment until the boss battle. Apart from his [Grey Cloak], he had managed to procure a decent set of armors, and had upgraded them with Lisbeth's help at the blacksmith. It would probably make him stand out during the boss battle, but at this point he didn't really mind. Putting on his normal equipment (that was only +3 on average.), he turned to the door just as a knocking sound could be heard.

"Argo right? Give me a second" Kirito replied, walking to the door, with a tap of the doorknob the door opened and a robed Argo walked in.

"Heya Kii-bou, it must have been lonely for you, did you miss Onee-san?" Argo was her usual self, "Do you want me to make you some food? Maybe a massage? Or maybe... *wink*"

Kirito sighed as he went and sat down on the sofa, where he already prepared some tea for his expected guest.

"So, when's the floor boss meeting? I'm guessing that the usual affair is also at hand?" Kirito got straight to business

"Che~ Kirito is really no fun at all... and I was willing to sacrifice myself to let out Kirito's pent up frustration. I even prepared myself by wearing a cute mini-skirt, want to see?" Argo put his robe on the sofa, revealing her pink miniskirt to Kirito, who simply turned his face "Anyways, the floor boss meeting's tomorrow at 10:00. As for the usual, the other party has increased his price to 29,000 col. Though I suppose you're not tempted yet, since you've apparently got a will of steel?"

"Tell them I'll be there, and let me think about the sword." Kirito responded, while Argo switched back to her normal equipment in boredom. "So, have any players been giving you a hard time? If you need any help we're always here for you."

"Eh... Kirito's actually worried for my well-being? That's cheating~ Onee-san might fall for you after all." Argo continued to tease. "Anyways, I'll be fine, most players don't want to cross the information brokers, but if I need you I'll call you. Would you warm me up if I feel cold at night?"

Kirito sighed as Argo giggled as she left the room, no matter how many times he's dealt with her he's never gotten Argo to ever slip up. Thinking about the conversation, Kirito thought about the reason why someone would try to buy his [Anneal Blade 3S3D]

_Well, I've narrowed it down to either someone from Claus' group, or someone trying to weaken my current fighting level. Thankfully it's definitely not someone that I'm close to, since they would know that the [3S3D] is just my leveling weapon. I don't see what anyone would have to gain by eliminating my ability to fight though, so maybe I should start by finding Claus' old group._

Equipping his items (2nd-tier set), Kirito put the rest of his items back in his inventory, and headed towards town.

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In the last few days, Tolbana had begun springing to life, with many groups of players coming with the intention on keeping updated about the floor boss meetings. Kirito knew that most were only here because of the fear of 'getting left behind', but he also knew that if more people came to the front lines, the morale of the players would also be boosted. As Kirito walked the populated streets, he thought about the events in the past few days.

Two days earlier while finishing his upgrading in [Starting City], Klein notified him of the last batch of players 'graduating' from the training, and that most players that wanted to leave had already prepared themselves. Kirito was glad that they were able to make it in time, as once the floors were unlocked, it would be unfair to ask players to take care of the people in [Starting City].

Apparently, Klein's group was planning to join the boss raid, having enough members to create a full party on their own. Klein apologized to Kirito for being unable to party with him, which was met by Kirito saying "Don't worry about getting in my way, you're strong enough to help your party survive." Needless to say, the two had a good laugh about that.

Before leaving [Starting City], Kirito was able to locate Coper, who had helped a great deal in teaching the new players. He thanked Coper, who refused his thanks, and informed him that he was not participating in the floor boss raid. "I'm a survival specialist, I'll leave the dangerous stuff to elites like you guys."

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_Well, at least we've all been giving it everything we've got, and thanks to that the death rate has somewhat decreased. It's about time we clear the floor, and give the players something to look forward to._

While walking the streets, he noticed a familiar face from a while back, he was surprised to see her walking in Tolbana, so he called out to her. "Mika-san!"

The girl turned to Kirito, lowered her head momentarily, and then greeted him as she walked towards him.

"Kirito-kun, how are you?" Mika said in a upbeat voice, Kirito was surprised at her upbeat personality, though he was also happy that it seemed Mika had moved on from the incident earlier.

"Good to see you in Tolbana, did you come here to participate in the floor boss meeting?" Kirito asked.

"No, I'm just coming with the crowd, since I didn't want to stay in [Starting City]. I wanted a chance in scenery so here I am" Kirito noticed a flash of sadness in her eyes, but he didn't want to spoil the mood.

"That sounds great, Tolbana's actually a pretty nice town once you get used to it. Though right now tensions might be a bit high, but once we've cleared the floor you might want to enjoy the meadowlands around the area." Kirito mentioned, trying his best to keep the mood light as possible.

The two walked around the town, Kirito showing Mika the various areas to buy items, the closest inns, as well as the local diners and gathering areas. "Anyways, would you like to grab dinner with me, my treat?"

"Hehe, I didn't expect Kirito-kun to be such a playboy. Especially after you turned me down last time... or was it that you were simply not interested in someone like me?" Mika let out a laugh, as she grabbed Kirito's arm.

Remembering a forbidden soft sensation he should have locked up in his memories, Kirito quickly jumped back and studdered. "No... not at all, you're very attractive, almost too... Anyways, I'll lead the way, follow me..." his voice trailing as he walked quickly to the farmer's diner that he knew about.

"Hehe..." Mika giggled as she sped up to catch up with Kirito.

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"I'm amazed at the milk tea served here! And what did you do to the 'black-bread', it tastes wonderful!" Mika exclaimed, as Kirito calmly drank his tea.

"It's one of the benefits of coming out of the city, I suppose." Kirito said as he put down his cup, "Rewards that come with the risk I suppose."

"Maybe I should join the front lines after all..." Mika pondered, almost succumbing to the temptation of savory delights.

"Well, you don't have to endanger yourself to enjoy these things, what level are you at right now?" Kirito asked, trying not to lead Mika into a path that might cause her harm.

"I haven't leveled much since last time, just hit level 8 so I figured out that was enough. It was really tedious leveling on cows though, and I'd have to run every time the Bull spawned."

"So are you comfortable farming in that area? Because the quest for this cream requires you to kill those cows." Kirito said calmly.

"Really?! Tell me about it" Mika almost knocked over the table as she got up.

_I wonder if there's something that attracts girls to that quest?_ Kirito wondered, as he explained the quest to Mika. After telling Mika about the 'Cow's Counterattack' quest, Kirito asked whether Mika knew of someone wanting to purchase Claus' sword.

"Well, at least it wasn't me." Mika replied, "Claus-san was a good leader, but I don't think he personally got too close to any of the players. He had an aura of a strict superior, always making decisions that would benefit the group."

"I see." Kirito nodded, "So you don't think anyone would want the sword as a memory of Claus. Do you think there was anyone that would want the sword for any other reason?"

"Well, apart from the fact that it was a rare quest weapon, there's really nothing too special with the sword." Mika answered after some thought. "It might be possible that someone thought of it as a lucky sword previously, as Claus-san was pretty much unharmed in most of our hunts. That's why it was a huge shock when we lost him to that [Giant Wasp], even though the Wasp was several levels higher than any one of us.

"I see, so I suppose it's probably not anyone in your party." Kirito concluded. Mika looked at Kirito as she finished the last bites of the cake on her plate.

"So Mika, do you want to level somewhere today? I'll be your personal trainer for the day if you'd like" Kirito did an awkward bow, which caused Mika to laugh happily.

"Mou... Kirito-kun, are you always that kind to people?"

"Huh?" Kirito was surprised at the question

"Indiscriminate kindness can be a bad thing though... especially to girls" Mika scolded Kirito lightly, as she turned to the door and walked out.

"Eh? Wait up!" Kirito quickly paid his tab, then walked out following Mika.

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"Thanks for the meal, Kirito-kun. Well, and everything else." Mika suddenly seemed rather quiet, as she and Kirito walked out of the diner.

"You know, I'm probably going to stop trying to keep up with you guys in the front lines. Being in Claus-san's party gave several us a disillusion of being able to match up with the best of the best, but now I realize that I don't have what it takes. I'm glad that SAO has players like you to give hope to the weaker players, so that we can have something to look forward to in the future." Mika said

Kirito didn't know what to say, as the gentle breeze blew across the fields, Kirito looked at Mika, who smiled as Kirito gently.

"Kirito-kun, you're really a gentle person, but at this rate you'll end up hurting yourself. One day you'll need to make decisions that might hurt others forever, and you'll probably hurt yourself more than anyone else. Just remember, you're not alone, so don't bear the burden all by yourself, there will be strong people around you that you can rely on."

Mika suddenly sprinted to Kirito, he felt a soft sensation on his cheek as Mika whispered into his ear. "Oh, if you ever change your mind and want to take up my offer, I'll save myself for you. Sayonara, Kirito-kun"

Leaving a stunned Kirito, Mika disappeared down the path into the darkness of the night.

**Author Notes:** Well, that brings a little closure to an OC which I didn't plan on reappearing, but it turned out fitting in without too much conflict. Maybe one day I'll bring her back... maybe I'll have a short thing where she meets other lower level characters... Sachi maybe?


	24. The Day Before

**Final Phase - The Day Before: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **1 down of 3... Our favorite spikey is back... this time I'll let him off with his pride intact.

******Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)**

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 19th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [22:00]

Location: [Tolbana Outskirts - Labyrinth area]

Kirito lay on the floor, completely drained after what just happened half-an-hour ago, beside him lay a sleeping bag, a robed figure sleeping inside. He just had to drag the sleeping bag out of the labyrinth, including the player that was inside. While the physical task wasn't too taxing on Kirito, the problems would lie in the future.

_How am I going to explain this to her... I'll end up becoming target practice for her [Linear]... _At this point, Kirito gulped painfully.

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One hour earlier, Kirito was returning from the 20th level of the 1st floor labyrinth, having mapped most of the map, including the boss' room. He had already sent the information to Argo, who informed him that Diabel's group had also found the room.

Planning to call it a day, he bumped into a familiar figure on the 18th floor. Noticing her usual vigor and determination, Kirito decided not to interfere with the rapier-user's leveling. Suddenly, in the middle of the fight, the player suddenly collapsed.

"ASUNA!" Kirito dashed towards the girl that had just collapsed, as he threw his [Anneal Blade] at the [Ruin Kobald Elite], impaling it and sending its HP to zero.

Noticing that Asuna's HP was still in the green, (actually it was almost at 100%), Kirito recognized that her collapse was likely due to her physical body reaching the limits. Confirming that the surroundings were safe, he proceeded to think about how he would bring Asuna back to town. Unfortunately, his STR stat was insufficient to carry her and her equipment. So he used a trick he had learnt during the beta test.

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**[Japan Date: 2022 November 20th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [08:00]

Location: [Tolbana Outskirts - Labyrinth area]

The robed rapier-user opened her Hazel eyes, her pupils shrinking due to the sun's light shining on her. She was still visibly confused, as her memories only recalling the scenery of the dark dungeon of the 19th level.

"Good morning, I hope you had a good rest." A familiar voice greeted Asuna, who quickly got up.

"Henta... I mean Kirito-kun, why are you here? Why am I here?" Asuna asked in confusion.

"Ouch, that hurts... after saving your life that's what you still call me" Kirito smirked, as Asuna realized what had happened, she must have collapsed in the dungeon, and Kirito moved her to a safe area while she passed out.

"Uh... thank you..."

"No problem, just remember to watch your physical health as well as your character's health. Your level won't mean anything if you pass out in the middle of the fight."

"Well I couldn't help it, I needed to get as strong as I can, and there was no way to do it unless I keep going at leveling." Asuna retorted, slightly irritated at the fact that is was Kirito that caught her at such a time.

"You do know, that killing the same mob over and over again is really inefficient right? It also gets dangerous as the mobs learn your attack pattern." Kirito sighed, he had almost forgot that Asuna was a complete MMO newbie, despite her natural talent to execute [Sword Skills].

"Well, it's still better than walking around to find other mobs around the level. So since you're so good, you must be levels above me right? Oh by the way I just hit 12." Asuna spoke casually, knowing that most of the best players were not even at 11 yet.

"Wow, I'm surprised, that's better than most of the best players on the front lines right now. It took me forever to level to 12, and only by hitting field bosses did I get to 15..." Kirito said with an impressed tone, not noticing Asuna's expression change from 'slightly arrogant' to 'completely depressed'.

"You monster..." Asuna let out a sigh of utter defeat.

"Anyways, how are you feeling? The floor boss meeting is starting in an hour or so, we'll have to hurry if we want to be on time." Kirito materialized two [Black-Breads], and passed one to Asuna after applying a thick layer of [Fresh Cream].

As Asuna got up, she saw the sleeping bag. Chewing on her makeshift breakfast, she asked. "What's this sleeping bag, and how did you transport me out?"

Kirito was petrified instantly, "well... actuallly..."

*SLAP* "HENTAI!"

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**[Japan Date: 2022 November 20th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]

Location: [Tolbana Town Center - 1st Floor Boss Meeting]

"Thank you for gathering here today! Some people here know me, but I will again introduce myself! I am Diabel, and my class in my heart is [Knight]!" Diabel's introduction earned the cheering and laughter of several of the 52 players sitting on the benches surrounding the fountain.

"You meant [Hero] right?" A voice called out from the audience, and suddenly Diabel fell silent.

"No, the term [Hero] is used for people that have already made significant contributions. The man who confronted Kayaba, and arranged the initial tutorial that led to the saving of countless lives, he is a [Hero]. I am merely a [Knight] who wishes to follow in the same path as the [Hero] who has disappeared." Diabel's words started a wave of muttering in the crowd.

_I didn't know my disappearance caused a stir within the population, guess I was pretty careless there. _Kirito thought, reflecting on the consequences of leaving like that.

"Do not worry, we have sources that suggest that the Phantom was actually someone who hadn't reverted to his true face, so it is possible that he is still amongst us, helping us in the shadows without taking the glory." Diabel reassured the crowd, "And that is why we are here. We must not disappoint the trust placed in us, and we will move forward and clear the game."

Diabel's words received a round of applause, and he continued once the clapping died down. "Now, I am sure you have received the word, either through the information brokers or the [Newspaper], but I am to announce that the boss room has been discovered."

Another wave of muttering spread around, which also died down quickly.

Kirito looked around, and nodded to his companions. Klein sat with his group of 5 friends to his left, and on his right Silica and Lisbeth sat beside Asuna. The three girls had met earlier through Kirito's introduction, and it seemed the three got along really well. In the distance, Argo was leaning on the wall, her face obscured by the robe she always wore.

"It has taken us the majority of the one month, but it is now time to prove to the players that there is hope. We must defeat the boss, so that we can give hope to those who are still trying to live in this game."

"To begin, let us for into groups, and after that we will arrange our members accordingly." Diabel announced, and instantly the players formed groups of 6 - the system party limit. Diabel went around the groups, and changed party members over to ensure the parties were balanced. Oddly, he did not approach Kirito's group or Kleins.

Kirito turned to his companions, who nodded in acknowledgement. Adding Asuna, Silica, and Lisbeth into his party, they were 2 short of a full party. However, in terms of equipment, level and ability, they were probably by far the strongest. Kirito looked at Argo, hoping that she would join, but she shook her head and walked off.

A message arrived at Kirito's inbox: [I'll join your harem next time, for now I've still got work to do. ;p ]

"OK, now that the groups are formed, let's discuss the strate..."

"Wait a second!" A familiar cactus-head jumped onto the stage that Diabel was talking on.

"Is there something wrong? Uh... Kibaou-san" Diabel asked.

"Yes... I'm aware that everyone's trying to clear the game and all, but before we start getting friendly. I want to demand that the beta players share their wealth and equipment with the players that are new to the game. Since they obviously kept their knowledge and abused it to give themselves an unfair advantage." Kibaou started with his demands.

_Why do I get the feeling that I've heard this before?_ Kirito became irritated just listening to him speak, but decided to stay put for now.

"Kibaou-san, although the beta testers have not all come out openly to help players, you must realize that many of us here have already received help from them. As a matter of fact, everyone that attended the second tutorial received help." Diabel tried to reason with Kibaou, but he did not seem to bulge.

"Doesn't change the fact that they kept their secret when it came to best leveling spots and where to get equipment. As you can see I'm already at level 9, and my equipment is nowhere as good because I'm a new player. Those beta players are hoarding the good weapons, and I demand that they share it, along with their col with everyone."

At this point, a deep and forceful voice boomed from the benches "May I speak?". Kirito looked over and saw the tall man wielding a battle-axe on his back, his stature intimidated Kibaou into silence, as he walked up to the stage.

"My name is Agil. I just wanted to clarify your position, so you wanted to prosecute the beta players because they hoarded leveling areas, equipment, and information right?" The brown man spoke calmly.

"Yes! Those greedy beta testers pretended to be helping us, when they were hiding the best for themselves. I think we should even prosecute them for getting the 400 people killed."

"Well, I can't speak for leveling areas and equipment, but I assume you're familiar with this book?" Agil raised his hand, holding [Argo's strategy guide] "This book was distributed for free at [Starting City], [Horunka Village], [Medai Village], and here as well. I believe it contains information from former beta players, as it dictates a great deal of information."

Nods of approval were noted as Agil continued to explain.

"Also, if you look at the guide, it also explains the basics of combat, [Sword Skills], as well as methods for combating mobs on the field. This section written by the penname 'Phantom Swordsman', likely to be the same person that challenged Kayaba and taught us the basics of SAO. Reading further, it also mentions the best weapon for each class, as well as the method for obtaining the weapon. Did you happen to read through the entire book Kibaou-san?"

"Uh.. yes I have... but the method was impossible, the Nepanthes never spawned... they must have lied about the mob" Kibaou complained.

"No, the Nepanthes with the flower does exist." Diabel interrupted, "But only for a short while, after a short time it becomes the 'seed', a deathtrap waiting to be triggered. My party and I almost lost my life because we didn't know. I also checked with the information broker, and according to the beta testers this change was unannounced."

"Curse it... fine, I'll stop for now... but don't think for a second that I will accept those cheaters." Kibaou grunted, and sat back down.

"Back to the meeting, we have recently obtained the latest copy of the guide. And according to the guide we will prepare our assault..." Diabel continued to discuss the strategy.

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One hour later, everything had been decided, and the players were mingling and getting to know each other. The girls did not want the attention, so they quickly left the scene. As Kirito was about to follow, the robed information broker stopped him.

"Kii-bou, my client wants to know, quote "Give me your price that you'll sell it.". Looks like he really wants the sword." Argo whispered to Kirito.

"I don't get it... but I suppose if he's that desperate... 50,000 col, and he's going to have to pay you for your troubles. Pass me the money if he agrees" Kirito resigned, as he gave Argo his [Anneal Blade 3S3D], he trusted Argo enough to let her keep his sword, knowing that her reputation was worth much more.

"Waaa... Kii-bou actualy trusts me, I'm delighted.. how should I repay you?" Argo joked.

"How about the reason behind your whiskers?" Kirito joked back at the girl, expecting her usual reply.

"40K, AND I keep the funds from the sword, it's already a discounted price."

_As expected_.

"Anyways, I'll go talk to my client, once it's done do you want to buy his name? I'll sell it to you for 1000 col" Argo laughed as she disappeared into the crowds, leaving Kirito sighing.

_As expected as the demon business agent._

Meeting with his friends, Kirito talked amongst themselves planning for the rest of the day.

"I'm going to head with my buddies out to level some more, hopefully I can get everyone at 10 by the boss fight. See you guys around" Klein said as he waved to Kirito's group, walking out into the labyrinth.

"So... that leaves behind one guy left, what are you going to do Kirito?" Lisbeth asked, stretch her arms as she walks down the pebbled road.

"Well... I'm probably going to head back to my room first, maybe then I'll take a warm bath, get my equipment ready, and explor..." Kirito was cut short by Asuna grabbing his collar, as well as the two girls staring at him intently.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Asuna barked.

"Uh... I was going to head back to my room?"

"No... after that.." Lisbeth asked

"Get my equipment ready and explore?"

"Kirito-san, didn't you say something before that?

"You mean take a warm-bath?"

"YES! THAT!" The three girls said in unison.

"What about it? I know it's a game, but I still bath daily if I can." Kirito answered, slightly surprised at the reactions that he got.

"TAKE US THERE!" An absolute order was just issued, as Kirito obeys without questioning the reasoning behind it.

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"You said this room was only for 120 col a night?!" Asuna was visibly distressed, having found out that she was paying more for a room that was nowhere as good as Kirito's.

"Well, yes..."

"I demand you give the room to us! Liz, Silica-chan, we'll share the room OK? Maybe we'll invite Argo-chan as well." Asuna had completely lost control, her aura starting to frighten Kirito.

"I'm sorry, but I already booked the room until the 24th... and I don't know a way to cancel." Kirito apologized despite knowing that it wasn't his fault.

"Out..." Asuna said quietly.

"Huh?" Kirito did not understand the meaning of Asuna's command.

"GET OUT! Don't come back for 3 hours, or face the consequences!" Asuna snapped, as Kirito finally understood.

"Sorry Kirito-san, but I want to have a good long bath as well." Silica apologized, though it was evident that she did not have a single bit of remorse.

"Looks like you won't be joining us in the bath, enjoy the walk" Lisbeth teased Kirito, who finally left the room, closing the door behind them.

_Great, there goes my hope of relaxing in the morning._ Kirito complained.

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Three hours later, Kirito returned to the barn, seeing Argo at the entrance.

"How's it turn out?" Kirito asked

"Well, Kibaou bought the sword, "Argo gave Kirito 49,000 col, taking the info fee, "and here's a bonus, it appears that someone ordered him to act as the client."

"Hmm... I see, guess I'll find out who's the guy once I see him at tomorrow's floor battle." Kirito mumbled. "Wait! I didn't even ask for the client's name yet! And what's with the 500-col guides that you've been selling to me. Aren't they being distributed for free?"

Argo laughed, "You would have paid anyways right? Besides the ones I sell to you are hand-written first editions, it's to show Kii-bou had a special place in my hearts." *wink*

Kirito gave in, he knew that he'd never win Argo in an argument.

"Anyways, to reward you for using my services, Onee-san has decided to allow Kii-bou to lend me your bath, let's go!" Argo laughed as he pushed Kirito up the stairs to his room.

"Come on!" Argo pushed Kirito hard, crashing through the door that he alone was allowed to open.

"?!" Kirito's eyes were met with a spectacular scene.

Three lovely ladies, with their hair down, sitting down at the table, in what looked like a white translucent robes.

"Oops... I'll be praying for you Kii-bou" Argo's voice seemed distant behind him.

"Kirito... " Asuna walked towards Kirito who was frozen on the spot. While covering her torso with her left arm, she raised her right hand and made a fist. Kirito sword he saw a pink light concentrating on her fist, the last thing he saw for the next hour.

"You HENTAI!"

**Author Notes:** Looks like I'll be using that as a running gag for a while... hopefully you guys don't find it TOO clichéd...


	25. Illfang the Kobald Lord

**Final Phase - Illfang the Kobald Lord: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Here comes the boss fight, I'm going to flip a coin to decide Diabel's fate... *flip... oops... it landed on the side and didn't fall... what should I do?

**Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)**

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 21th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]

Location: [1st Floor Labyrinth Area - 20th level - Boss Room Entryway]

Kirito stood in silence with his group outside the entrance to the boss room. They were selected to act as a scouting group for the main raid, and the four-person party had bulldozed their way to the entrance of the objective.

Yet, something didn't quite seem right from the beginning. While it was no surprise that his group's superior fighting ability was revealed, partially due to the fact that they were the only group with severely upgraded equipment, and the fact his group contained all the girls in the clearing party.

_Still, why would they get us to clear the way, instead of having the main party progress slowly. It was an inefficient method, and it could endanger the entire operation._

The fact that they were scouting alone benefitted Kirito's group though, as they did not need to worry about protecting the other groups. Kirito figured that they would incite jealousy if the other players knew of their levels, and it was a good thing that they would be unable to judge until after the boss level.

Waiting for the main group to arrive, Kirito turned to the others in his group.

"So here it is, the first floor boss. Even though we've been relegated to fight against the [Kobald Sentinels], there is a chance that we might have to fight [Illfang the Kobald Lord], so make sure your potions are ready, and that we're all ready."

Kirito watched as his group recheck their equipment, and he smile knowing that they were as ready as they could get. In the last moments before the raid, Lisbeth had finally reached level 10, making her as strong as the top players in the main group. If anything should happen, Cardinal-forbid, at least their group was pretty much ensured survival.

"Kirito-san, I always wanted to ask you, but why are you wearing two swords on your back?" Silica suddenly asked, a question that was probably long overdue.

"I've been wondering that as well, especially when the sword is so rare to begin with. You can't imagine how stressed I was when he wanted me to refine both swords to +8... I thought my heart was going to jump out each time I hammered the sword." Lisbeth also spoke up, having recently taken up smithery and helped Kirito upgrade his swords.

"Kirito-kun, does it have anything to do with the issue of [Disarming]? But according to Argo, neither the [Senteniels] nor [Illfang] have that skill." Asuna added.

"Well, it's sort of a oddity that I have, think of it as insurance I suppose. Let's just say that I have a gut feeling, if things get really bad I might need another sword." Kirito responded elusively, leaving the girls puzzled as the main party arrived in the boss room.

"Good work Kirito-kun" Diabel greeted Kirito, "I'm sorry that you guys had to do this, but it made sense to conserve the focus of the main attacking party."

"Besides, you group has all the hacked weapons, too bad you ended up selling your best sword" A spikey-haired Kibaou smirked, walking out behind Diabel.

Kirito frowned, he had discovered the people who purchased his sword, but he still did not know exactly the reason that he did so.

"Diabel-san, I'm just curious to know why you purchased my sword." Kirito started, "While it may be rare, but for that amount of money you probably could have bought another one and refined it yourself."

"Unfortunately, I did not know of any other players that possessed the sword. Coper-san has one as well, but he refused to sell it for any price. Also, according to the information brokers, the pop-rate of the 'flower' Nepenthes has dropped hundred-fold, and that it would probably take weeks to get a hold of one." Diabel replied.

"But this sword will get outdated soon" Kirito continued his inquiry, trying to probe at his true intents.

"Nonetheless, a knight lives by his sword, and unfortunately I wasn't able to get a hold of one. I am thankful for your willingness to sell me your sword. As this will hopefully allow me to close the gap between our abilities." Diabel concluded, leaving Kirito no space for continued argument. Turning to the players who had all arrived, he stabbed his sword into the ground and spoke.

"Everyone, thank you all, I am really grateful that all fifty-two party members have gathered, with no absences."

"I hope, no, I hereby swear by Knight's Honor, that by the end of this fight, the fifty-two of us will celebrate the opening of the next town."

All the players in the raid group raised their weapons in unison, as loud cheers could invite unwanted agro mobs.

"Brothers, to arms!" Diabel quietly commanded, as he pushed open the door to the first floor boss.

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As Kirito walked into the boss room, he couldn't help but notice that it seemed bigger.

The 8 groups of players quickly got into position under Diabel's command, and prepared for the onslaught.

Group A and B mainly consisted of tank type players, designed to take the majority of abuse from the boss. The leader of group A led his group straight into the room while holding his [Iron Hammer] and [Iron Heater Shield], while B group's leader Agil held his BattleAxe leading his group diagonally behind the first.

The middle groups C and D were commanded by Diabel, consisting of the main attackers. Behind them, Kibaou led the group E, as well as the [Polearm] equiped F and G groups.

Group H, Klein's mixed group, was assigned with the dealing with [Sentinels], along with Kirito's group I. Kirito felt that it was unnecessary to have 2 groups dealing with the 12 [Sentinels] that would spawn, but did not feel like confronting Diabel about the arrangement.

"Klein, later on if you feel like it, send your group to attack the [Illfang], we should be fine in handling the [Sentinels]. Be very careful of the [Illfang] when it reaches the last HP bar though, Kayaba might have changed things since the beta test." Kirito whispered to Klein as he passed his group.

As the gamma in the room his pitch darkness, torches lit up on the walls, restoring the brightness of the room. In the far side, two red eyes gleamed in the darkness, as the floor boss - [Illfang the Kobald Lord], got up.

"GURAAAAAH!" Its roar echoed on the walls as the demi-human Kobald leaped into the air, performing a somersault before landing in front of the players. Its [Bone Axe] sliced the air, and collided with the Shield of Group A Leader, sending sparks that signified the start of the battle.

Kirito motioned Asuna, as they charged the first two [Sentinels] that dropped from the alcoves high up on the wall, a clean strike struck the Sentinels.

"Switch!" Both players cried simultaneously, as Silica and Lisbeth jumped to the front, landing another clean strike on the [Senteniels], sending them into a oblivion.

"Almost too easy." Lisbeth commented, which surprised Kirito as well.

_It almost seems too easy, even compared to the previous time._ Kirito thought.

"Klein, go!" Kirito motioned Klein's group to support the front lines, as Kirito's group finished off the two remaining [Senteniels]

_Argo's guide mentioned that the [Sentinels would spawn in 4 groups of 3, but the first group spawned a group of 4. I'm guessing something has been changed, so we'd better be careful in any case._

Kirito motioned his group over "We'll split up in pairs and gang up on the [Sentinels], Lisbeth with Asuna, and Silica with me. Fall back if you ever get damaged."

Looking at the main party's progress, Kirito deduced that it would only be a matter of time until the boss fell. The defending groups A and B were showing no signs of deterioration, with their 'pot rotations' perfectly synchronized, while the attacking parties continually dealt clean hits to [Illfang].

Kirito looked at Diabel, who remained in perfect composure throughout the raid, as he commanded the groups to continually keep pressure on the Kobald Lord. Soon the first HP bar had depleted from the boss' gauge, triggering the next wave of [Sentinels].

_No, something was not right. These are [Sentinel Guards]._

"Watch out! These [Sentinels] are stronger!" Kirito yelled, as he accelerated faster than the rest of the group, engaging all four [Sentinels] as the same time. Blocking the [Sentinels'] attacks, he quickly judged their fighting potential as he countered with a [Stun Slash], buying himself some time to regroup with his party.

"These ones are at least a level higher," Kirito informed his party, "Asuna and I will engage, while Silica distracts them with the throwing picks. Lisbeth, I'll need you heavy hits to finish."

Rushing back towards the [Sentinels], Kirito and Asuna blocked off the first two Kobalds charging at them, following with quick slashes and stabs chipping away at the mobs HP. As the two mobs behind jumped into the air over Kirito and Asuna, flashes of silver streaked through the air impaling the mobs, Silica's [Scatter Shot] dealing its damage.

Kirito turned around, leaving his back to be protected by Asuna, and with a [Horizontal] dealt critical damage to the two [Sentinel's] back. Roaring in rage, the two mobs turned towards Kirito, who smiled in response while looking at Lisbeth's glowing mace.

"Hiya!" Lisbeth shouted as she leapt off the ground, her hammer arched in the air in a diagonal crescent and smashed into the undefended heads of the [Sentinels]. Almost tripping after her skill [Arching Roundhouse], Lisbeth bumps into Kiroto as he catches her.

"Uh, sorry..." Lisbeth muttered, embarrassed that she ended up flying into his arms.

"Don't worry about it, it's the [system penalty] for a powerful low-level skill." Kirito replied, as he turned around to observe Asuna and Silica, who were fighting with the two remaining [Sentinel Guardians].

A smile cracked as he view the combination, probably one of the rarest SAO was ever to offer. On one side the robed rapier-user was unleashing a set of deadly stabs with her [Wind Fleuret], covering the [Sentinel] in a blue light that depleted its HP steadily. Kirito knew that Asuna would become one of the strongest one day, and that she would lead the players of SAO to clear floor after floor. The fight that he observed only solidified his beliefs.

Beside the rapier user, the young girl was dancing in the air with a dagger in her hands. He had never expected the innocent young girl, who resembled his cousin, to become one of the top players in the frontlines of this deathgame. The young girl, who would easily be mistaken for a cute mascot in any party, had transformed into a miracle acrobat who was able to fend off danger without losing a beat. Between her dagger strikes and throw weapons, the [Sentinel] was stuck in a futile loop of chasing his tail.

_I'm almost tempted to get Argo to promote these two, to show that anyone can become strong in SAO... then again, I have a feeling that I'd be seeing the [You Are Dead] message soon after I did that._

"What are you glaring at?" Lisbeth poked Kirito, noting his sudden lack of concentration. "Let's go help them!"

"Well.. it's probably too late" Kirito pointed at Asuna and Silica, who were walking back, having finished their opponents.

"So, what's next" Asuna said, returning her sword in its sheath. One would never think of this as a floor boss battle judging from her calm expression.

Kirito shrugged, as he continued to watch the main battle. [Illfang] second HP bar had already gone down another 75%.

"I'm expecting the next group of [Sentinels] to be even harder. So don't relax so soon. Somehow I've a bad feeling about this." Kirito cautioned his group. His thoughts wandered again as he viewed Diabel's sword, the [Anneal Blade 3S3D] shining in the ambient light. He took a few steps forward to get a better glimpse at the battle with the boss.

_Why would be buy the sword, if he was in a commanding position? Normally if the battle goes well, he shouldn't even need to land a single attack. There must be something else..._

"So how's it feel to be unable to fight the boss?" A voice came from an unexpected person, the player that offered to buy the [Anneal Blade 3S3D]. Kirito noted that his armor seemed to be upgraded from his original equipment, and his sword gleamed from the upgrades applied to it.

"Not much to be honest, I'm just hoping that everyone gets out alive." Kirito answered without interest, if Kibaou was merely a proxy, then he was just another pawn in Diabel's scheme, "So how much did Diabel pay for your help?"

"It's none of your business." Kibaou spitted back, "All that matters is that he's foiled your plan to sneak into this clearing party, and that you can't trick us to giving you a chance at sneaking an LA on the boss, like the times you did in the beta-test."

Kirito was shocked at Kibaou's accusation, not because of the accusation itself, but the fact that he knew - about his participation in the CBT, as well as what happened during the boss fights.

During the CBT phase of SAO's testing, Kirito has developed a keen sense for judging the boss' remaining HP. Through countless battle with mobs and floor bosses, he was able to accurately grasp the perfect timing to unleash his most powerful attacks. The result of his training led him to be able to land several [Last Attacks] - which gave the player a bonus during boss clearing.

Normally, the rare-item would only incite a little jealousy from the remaining players, as it was often down to luck as to whether a player would deal enough damage to kill the boss. The fact that LA dealers would also bear the most risk, as the boss would be desperate, also dissuaded severe jealousy from the players in the CBT.

Unfortunately, now that SAO was a reality, the rules have changed. Obtaining a rare item would invariably increase a player's chance of survival, and as such the LA on the boss would be probably be the most important strike for the players. Suddenly, Kirito realized the reason why Diabel wanted to buy his sword.

"So that's why Diabel wanted my sword," Kirito exclaimed, "He wanted to stop me from being able to land the LA on the boss. Which also explains this abnormal scheduling, where he put us to deal with the [Sentinels]."

"Don't insult Diabel, he's not a dirty cheater like you. Still, we'll be damned if we fall into your trap and let you get the LA." " Kibaou spitted on the ground as he returned to his group, leaving Kirito standing in the realization of the plot.

_You got me good there Diabel._ Kirito thought. _ And here I thought you were this noble player dedicated on helping those in need. That makes me feel much better, at least you're not that different from me. I can understand the fear you must have to face... just don't let your fear and greed lead everyone to their demise._

Bringing his sword out, Kirito returned to his group and prepared himself as the third batch of [Sentinels] appeared. As the four [Sentinel Elites] dropped from the alcove, Kirito charged forward.

"Let's finish this quickly, I have a bad feeling that we'll be needed to help defeat the boss."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Group A, switch with B and pot" Diabel's voice was heard over the sound of fighting

"Group D and E, attack from the sides! F,G and H, get ready, ATTACK!"

The groups of players watched as the third HP bar [Illfang], get reduced to the last 10%. It was almost time for the Kobald to switch weapons, as it entered its last desperate attempt to survive.

"Group C, get ready to surround the boss. Make sure you don't get caught in the fight yet." Diabel commanded as he got himself into position.

Kirito watched in the distance as his group closed in on the main fight, the [Sentinel Elites], being the same level as [Illfang], actually turned out to be quite hard to defeat, but still they were no match for the superior fighting power of his group.

_Still, Diabel's formation is truly something to be impressed at. It's not hard to imagine that he was once part of the groups of testers clearing the floors. Now if I only could figure out his name..._

Once again, Kirito's thoughts were interrupted as the field boss, [Illfang the Kobald Lord], gave a ferocious roar.

Instead of dropping his 'bone axe' and 'leather shield', it tosses it a one of the players, sending it flying. In an instant Diabel and his group surround the floor boss, preparing to finish it off.

"Fall back and pot, we'll finish it from here!" Diabel yelled, commanding the other players to back off.

_Not a good decision, if anything, now is a time for an all-out attack. He really is trying hard to land the LA for himself. _Kirito thought.

As the Kobald drew the long blade from his waist, its silhouette shimmered in the light of the cave. The blade was thin and long, a contrast to what an iron talwar should have been, and the faint light of silver gave away the construction of the blade - forged steel. There are only several weapons that were made of forged steel, and the gentle curve on the blade suggested that this weapon was far more potent than the talwar which the [Illfang] used in the CBT.

Suddenly, scattered images of memories swarmed Kirito's mind, just as the visions from before, and this time he was able to make sense of a few scenes. Namely, the scene of Diabel shattering into a million pixels, and the image of the [Illfang] towering over him, holding a..

_That's NOT A TALWAR! IT'S A KATANA, A NODACHI!_

"EVERYBODY STAND BACK!" Kirito bellowed as he sprinted forwards, but his voice did not make it in time for the people in group C.

The Kobald jumped off the floor creating a shockwave, and spun around with his weapon held, a glow accumulated as the weapon unleashed its attack - Tsumujiguruma (Whirling Wind)

As the crimson arc passed through the players, each player in group C was sent flying backwards, a streak of red glowing on their torso. The average HP display of the group was immediately sent below 50%, furthermore, the yellow symbol on top of each of the players in group C indicated a stun.

Closest to the circle of group C, Agil charged forward with his group to assist Diabel, but at that distance they were unable to save them. The Kobald King stabbed into the floor and then raised his blade, the skill [Ukifune (floating boat)] fishing Diabel into the air.

Kirito knew what was coming, the three-hit killer [Hiogi (scarlet fan)]. Diabel would be unable to defend against the 3-hit combo, and would likely die from the injury.

_If Diabel dies in this raid, everything will change for the worse, I can't let that happen!_

Holding his blade in the ready position, Kirito activates his skill - [Sonic Upper], and flies into the air.

Sparks fly as Kirito's blade connects with the first hit of Illfang's Hiogi, and the second hit is automatically cancelled due to the broken combo. However, the third thrust of the nodachi sends Kirito crashing into Diabel, and the two of them crash into the floor like a meteorite.

Noting the critical damage, Kirito noted that his HP was down to 60%, and was further stunned for 5 seconds. Looking at Illfang, its blade was charging with another lethal strike, [Gengetsu (Phantom Moon)], an attack that would cut in a random direction, bypassing any block that was not properly aligned.

If unchecked, the attack would deal another thirty percent or more HP, while Kirito would survive the strike, Diabel would still be killed due to the piercing property of the attack . Barely raising his arm to defend, Kirito prepared for the worse.

*CLANG* A loud ring shook the room as Illfang's nodachi was blocked.

"Guess I was late for the party." A familiar voice entered Kirito's ears, as a figure materialized as his [Hiding] ability was deactivated.

"Coper!" Kirito managed to speak out.

**Author's Notes:** That's part 2... just 1 chapter left until I've finally finished the 1st floor!


	26. Progress

**Final Phase - Progress: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Author Notes 2: This chapter was actually written on the plane, so expect TONs of errors and mistakes**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Here comes Coper to the rescue? What? The 'I will survive' pragmatist sticking his neck out? No way! Guess he'll survive somehow?

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Japan Date: 2022 November 21th]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [~10:30]

Location: [1st Floor Labyrinth Area - 20th level - Boss Room]

Standing in front of a stunned Kirito and Diabel, Coper stood with his shield in one arm and sword in the other. He eyed the two behind him, as he viewed the floor boss coldly.

"Looks like you guys took a beating, you'd better potion up." Coper said

"Thanks,you saved our lives" Kirito thanked Coper as he got up, downing a potion as he handed one to Diabel.

"Quit joking, I may have saved this guy's life, but that hit wouldn't have put you in the red at all." Coper laughed, "Now get back in the fight, so I can get out of here, I'm not meant for this hero stuff."

"Very well, take care of Diabel for me OK? We need to regroup." Kirito stepped forward as Coper helped Diabel up.

"Why'd you save me?" Diabel asked Kirito

"Because no LA is worth killing or dying for…" Kirito replied, making Diabel realize what he had done.

"I'm sorry… " He muttered, as Coper helped him on his feet.

Kirito faced the Kobald Lord, as it raised its blade once more.

At this time, Kirito's group had arrived by his side, as well as Klein and Agil.

"Klein, Agil, I'll need both your groups to concentrate on stopping the boss from hurting our other allies. With that hit our entire group is in chaos, I'll need you guys to hold the line." Kirito commanded the two groups to fall back and defend the rest of the players.

"It'll be up to us four to buy time while the players regroup. Silica, long range attacks. Lisbeth, I'll need you to help defend Silica. Asuna, let's go." Kirito ordered his group, and he charged the boss once more.

Dodging the first slice, Kirito relied on his instinct to dodge Illfang's attacks. He had learnt the moves of Kanata-wieldiing mobs through his days of the CBT, and here he was putting it on the line in order to survive.

If the Illfang was using a normal Talway, Kirito would likely be unable to stop the attacks due to the sheer strength difference. However, against a nodachi, Kirito would be able to deflect attacks as long as he got the deflection angle right.

Jumping and dashing, Kirito kept the Kobald at bay, while Asuna launched attacks from blind spots whenever opening arose. As the Kobald's HP continued to drop slowly, it turned its gaze towards the rapier-user.

"Asuna-san, watch out!" Silica screamed as Kirito rushed towards Asuna, pushing her out of the way, Kirito raised his blade and blocked the boss' [Tsujikaze (Whirlwind), sending him flying backwards from the recoil.

"Kirito!" Lisbeth leaped from behind, her mace blocking Illfang's subsequent slash, unfortunately her mace's speed was no match for Illfang's nodachi, leaving Lisbeth undefended as Illfang prepared the next swing. Luckily, streaks of silver hit Illfang interrupting its attack, as Silica darts towards the Illfangs legs, cutting them as she rolls out of the way of the next swing. Behind them, Asuna quickly moves around the Kobald Lord and attacks its back, completely surrounding the monster. In the distance Kirito gets up from the blow and notices the situation.

"FALL BACK NOW!" Kirito yells, as he watches Illfang charge his attack. The attack [Tsumujiguruma] hits all three, sending them backwards along with a stun status. Kiroto charges immediately and launches into the air, attracting the boss' attention with a [sonic leap].

Immediately, the mob slashes its nodachi sideways, as Kirito ducks under the blade, charging even closer. He slashes the mob again, and lifts his blade just in time to block the attack. As the two blades collide, the dark aura on both blades mix into a torrent of darkness.

Increasing his distance, Kirito noticed something odd about the last few strikes, in that the damage he dealt to the boss was significantly lower than that dealt by his comrades. It didn't make sense, as his level was higher and his equipment was further refined, and Kirito was very disturbed at this phenomena.

_At this rate I won't be able stand my ground much longer, I must find out what the problem is. _

Looking at his blade, he noticed that it was emitting the same aura as the Kobald, and he had an idea. Charging again at the Kobald, Kirito traced the paths of the nodachi, and allowed the blades to cross.

Once again, the dark aura of the blades consume the sparks that emitted, and Kirito dodges sideways from the next attack. Quickly reaching his weapon forward, Kirito stabs the leg of the Kobald, dealing no damage to the mob. Kirito was shocked in the revelation, as he jumped backwards, barely blocking Illfang's whirlwind as he was sent backwards.

As Kirito watched Illfang charge another 3-hit killer skill Hiogi, as suddenly a blue light flashed past and pierced the Illfang's torso, sending it backwards and ending its combo.

"Sorry for the wait." Asuna's voice indicated that the group was back in action.

"Perfect timing" Kirito replied, while he returned his [Anneal Blade] to its sheath.

"What are you doing?" Asuna asked, shocked that Kirito had put away his weapon.

"Just switching blades" Kirito replied, as he drew his other blade, which glowed in the darkness.

_If it's my [Anneal Blade] that's the problem, then I'll switch to the other one._

"Wait for my order, get ready to go all out." Kirito signaled his allies. Then dashed forward again, using his [Rage Spike] to close the distance with the Illfang, he quickly got within the Kobald's range and let out an [Uppercut]. This time the Kobald roared painfully, and jumped into the air.

"EVERYONE BACK OFF, and get ready!" Kirito bellowed, as Illfang the Kobald Lord unleashed his AOE.

_If this works, then I might be able to block the attack, here goes._

The crimson arc cuts through the air, and approaches Kirito's sword, he could see the dark aura that was at the tip of the sword, colliding into the glow of his sword. As sparks flew, Kirito noted that he did not take damage.

"NOW!" Kirito yelled as he charged the Kobald, joining in the combined strikes on the floor boss as it was powerless for a short while. Jumping in the air, Kirito lifted his sword high in the air.

"DIE!" Kirito lunged the sword into the boss' head, and pulled downwards all the way to the floor. The entire room fell silent as the boss' arms drooped to the ground, and its nodachi fell to the ground and shattered.

[Congratulations! You have cleared the First Floor] A system message popped up, along with the usual 'exp/col gained message'.

"WE DID IT" cheers erupted across the room, as players raised their weapons into the air.

Kirito sat down in exhaustion, as he acknowledged the 'You got the LA" message. Around him, players gathered around him and celebrated.

"That was an impressive fight, you've saved the party. Congrats, victory is rightfully yours." The 180-cm giant smiles at Kirito, extending his hand.

"Thanks, I couldn't have done it without the help of everyone." Kirito replied as he grabbed Agil's hand, getting up from the floor. Behind Agil, he noticed the smiling faces of Asuna, Lisbeth, and Silica, as well as Klein who was giving him a thumbs-up.

"You cheater! Why did you not tell us earlier?" An irritating voice rose over the cheering, and the players quieted down to listen to the voices owner – Kibaou.

"You knew all the moves of the boss and its sentinels, even though it was never mentioned in the guide. Why did you not bring this up in the meetings? Were you planning to hide the knowledge? You planned to do this along, so you could make sure you would get the LA bonus from the boss, am I right?"

Against the sudden accusations of Kibaou, Kirito did not know how to respond. Although he had not intended to hide the truth, he did not actively try to make the players realize that changes might have been made since the beta. From the view of normal players, perhaps there was no difference between the two.

As Kirito was about to step up to answer Kibaou's questions, an arm blocked his path. Diabel had stepped in between the two, as he turned to face Kibaou.

"He didn't because I never gave him the chance to." Diabel began his confession that silenced the crowd, "I did not want him to release all the information that he had, so I made sure that he would never get a chance to contribute to the meetings. If Kirito-kun was allowed to speak during the meetings, too much information may have been leaked out."

Amongst the shocked players, perhaps Kibaou was the most shocked, "Diabel-han, what are you talking about? It was this cheater that was holding back the information, what do you mean? Didn't we do this to prevent these cheating beta players from getting the LA on the boss?"

"No, it was not only to stop Kirito-kun from getting the LA. I did this to ensure that I would get the LA… I am one of those beta players that knew about the LA system." Diabel put the last nail in the coffin, as he incriminated himself for the very crime that Kibaou wanted to place on Kirito.

"Why did you do this Diabel-han? What about all of those you helped along the way? Was everything you did a lie just to get us to follow your lead?" Kibaou lost the earlier rage that he had, with nothing but despair in his voice.

"I…" Diabel was without words, unable to explain his motives, or rather, afraid to explain his motives.

Kirito was about to speak up for Diabel, when another person answered Kibaou's question.

"He was probably scared, as everyone else is. Just like you , me, and everyone. Nobody wanted to be in this death-game, and it's ridiculous to expect anyone to be able to live just fine when the world is turned upside down." Coper spoke in a cold voice.

Many recognized Coper as the person who was confidently teaching the new players at [Starting City], and many were surprised at his speech.

"I once thought it was necessary to survive by any means possible, even if it meant that someone else would die as a result. In fact, the person that I tried to kill is standing here, but he didn't blame me. He understood that people act irrationally when we are afraid, and that's what Diabel did. We shouldn't blame him, if the person that he harmed does not blame him. Coper finished, looking at Kirito.

"I hold no grudge against Diabel, he did what he needed to do so that the party would clear the floor. Besides, he legitimately purchased my sword, and I agreed to the party arrangements. What happened was beyond anyone expectations, so nobody should be blamed." Kirito announced, to Diabel's surprise and Coper's relief.

"That still doesn't excuse the beta testers from hiding the knowledge of how mobs fight. If we all knew about the all the fighting style we would have a much better time." Kibaou continued to resist.

"Kibaou-san, do you even have any idea how many types of sword skills there are in this game? According to the advertising of the game, there were well over twenty types of sword skills in this game, and the actual number of sword skills is said to be infinite. So how are you able to expect anyone to KNOW all the skills?"

Kibaou looked at Kirito with glaring eyes. "It still doesn't change the fact that you knew about the moves of the floor boss, but did not tell anyone abo…"

"Do you know how to fight [Little Golems]?" Kirito interrupted him with a question

"Uh, how would I know? How does this have to do with the floor boss anyways?" Kibaou responded.

"So I suppose you wouldn't be able to deal the boss if it had used moves similar to a [Little Golem]? And then you'd call out anyone that knew the [golem's] moves a cheater?"

"Of course, they should have told us!" Kibaou spat out.

"Even if the [Little Golem] resides just outside of [Starting City]?"

"?!" Kibaou was silenced by Kirito's question.

"You're asking something unreasonable, pretty much asking everyone to spoonfeed everything in the game to you. If you don't experience something first hand, how are you expected to know how to deal with it. The entire reason that we were caught in this trap was because we expected the boss to use a Talwar, and it took us by surprise. I was lucky in that I had fought nodachi-using mobs, but for someone like you it wouldn't matter either way." Kirito then turned to the other players.

"In this raid, we have learned an important fact, for beta players and new players alike, and that is to not rely on preexisting data based on the beta-test. I'm sure many beta players have noticed changes as well, and have already informed your communities."

"As for players that are still relying on leeching off other players, it is time to experience the game for yourself. You can read up about a mob as much as you want, but you'll never survive unless you develop your instincts for this game. Right now 3 of the top 4 leveled players are new players, because they allowed themselves to be put at risk in order to learn to survive. So, if you don't want to end up like a certain whiner, you'd better learn to really treat the game like real life."

Kirito walked past the group of silent players, left a short "I'll leave town opening to you" as he passed Diabel, and started walking up the stairs to the second floor. As the top, Kirito turned around and equipped his special drop from [Illfang the Kobald Lord].

"And one last thing, in case anyone missed it, dealing the last hit on the boss gives a [Last Attack Bonus], as long as the boss does not kill you in its frenzy mode. If anyone is foolish enough to risk their life trying for it, I'll wait for you at the second floor's boss room."

The group watched in silence as Kirito disappeared up the spiraling stairs and up into the second floor, and suddenly a laughter was heard.

"haha… what kind of weird closing speech was that? He'd better not be leading next time, otherwise we'd die of boredom before we reach the next boss." Coper broke into a laughter

"Talk about a bummer of an end… so what now?" Klein asked.

"We still need someone to lead the festivities, Diabel-san?" Agil looked at the blue-haired leader, who was surprised that someone would still accept him

"Are you sure? I betrayed everyone's expectations…" Diabel asked nervously.

"Well, the only life that you ended risking was your own and Kirito's, and since that guy doesn't really care we figure we can let you off this time." Agil gave a small smile.

"Just don't ever do it again, or that guy will surely not forgive us." Coper added.

Diabel sighed in relief, tears formed in his eyes.

"You guys really are the best. I promise that I'll try to make amends from now on. OK, for now let's hit the second floor and give the good news to the players waiting for us in [Starting City]!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kirito was standing in the mountain trail of the second floor. A silent breeze brushed against his face, as he enjoyed the nostalgic scenery of the mountain floor. Shortly after, his message box flashed with several pending messages.

[Klein: Nice Fight! Just don't plan on becoming a public speaker when we get back to real-life.]

[Silica: Wait for us Kirito-san, we'll be coming up soon. Oh, and 'good work'.]

[Lisbeth: You sure made a fool of yourself back there, better stick to leveling and clearing the boss.]

[Argo: Heard you made quite the mess in there, looks like business will be good thanks to you.]

[Asuna: … baka.]

Kirito smiled inwardly upon reading the messages, it wasn't too bad not being a solo-beater afterall.

Clearing his thoughts, he found a nearby tree, and lay down on the grass while waiting for his comrade and friends to join him in the new floor, a historic progress in the eventual clearing of SAO. He looked up at the sky, thinking of his family on the other side, and the time he will eventually return to meet them again.

_Wait for me, mother, Sugu, I'll definitely return alive._

**Author Notes:** FINALLY! I'm done the first floor. Next chapter will be after a small time skip, so I'll need to do some research before I continue. In the meantime, I'm going to start a little side-story in the crossover fanfic section, hope to see your comments and reviews!


	27. Interlude - Suguha 1st

**Interlude - Suguha-side 1st**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Author Notes 2: This chapter was actually written on the plane, so expect TONs of errors and mistakes**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Well, I'm sure it was only an eventuality that Suguha's going to get introduced right?

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Location: Real World ]**

**[Date: November 6, 2022]**

**[Time: 18:00PM]**

Sirens of ambulances could be heard in the distance, in numbers that were staggering. Normally the quiet streets would seldom be visited by emergency sirens, but today was no ordinary day.

Running down the hill from her school, a young girl ran down the speed at full speed. She did not hear the sounds of the ambulances, or the shouts of her friends behind her.

_Please, don't let it be true…_ only one thing in the girl's mind blocked out every other thought

*SCREECH* the girl ran past an intersection without even noticing the car that barely avoided hitting her.

As her vision became blurred by the tears in her eyes, her greatest fears were about to come true.

Outside her house, a yellow police line had been erected, and there was a crowd that had gathered.

Kirigaya Suguha's knees gave out at that moment, as she stopped outside her house. Just a few hours ago, she had just finished eating lunch with her brother, and had headed for kendo practice for club activities.

She still remembered her brother's stoic reply when she said "I'll be off", and was looking to surprise him tonight. But her hopes were dashed, when she heard the news broadcast through the school's PA system. She didn't remember changing out of her uniform, putting her shinai away, or anything that happened. All that occupied her mind was that she wanted to see her brother.

_Onii-chan… _Suguha was lost to a wave of despair, as she cried in the arms of her mother that had arrived.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx

**[Location: Real World ]**

**[Date: November 16, 2022]**

**[Time: 16:00]**

Suguha and her mother were standing beside Kirigaya Kazuto's bed at the hospital, in the special section created for SAO victims. Ten days after the beginning of the incident, a total of 356 people had lost their lives due to the nightmare known as the SAO incident. 213 deaths were due to the forced removal of the nervegear hardware that the players wore, and another 143 lives were lost afterwards, proving the worst case scenario.

Akihiko Kayaba, the madman who designed the game, was serious about sacrificing players in order to obtain his goals. The police searched his whereabouts unsuccessfully, and an international warrant had been placed. However, none of this was important for the girl that stood beside the bed of Kazuto.

"Why did Onii-chan get stuck in that game he was playing?" Kirigaya Suguha was lost in despair, having heard the news that her brother had been imprisoned, without a way out.

"If we had known, we should have stopped him from gaming in the first place. I don't know how his mother would react, would she blame us for not taking care of him?" Suguha's mother suddenly spoke words that were beyond Suguha's understanding?

"Mother? What do you mean by that?" A shocked Suguha asked, to which her mother turned to her with sad eyes.

"I originally did not plan to tell you until later, but considering the circumstances, I think it's only fair for you to know the truth about your bro~, no Kazuto-kun. The truth of his birth, as well as the reason he became distant starting a few years ago."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx

**[Location: Real World ]**

**[Date: November 23, 2022]**

**[Time: 20:00]**

Kirigaya Suguha sat in her room, beside an empty box of tissues, all of its contents having been tossed into the litter bin beside her desk. The last few weeks have been hazy at best, and she had already lost count how many times she had cried herself to sleep.

On November 6th, her only brother was taken away from her due to a cruel twist of fate, where his favorite pastime became his full-time reality, removing him from her life. To make things worse, she lost her only connection with him, when her mother told her the truth – that Kazuto was not her brother.

_Onii-chan, why is it that whenever I'm almost close to reaching you, you always leave for somewhere further? _Suguha was unable to control her thoughts as her eyes welled up in tears again.

She looked at her desk, it was lettered with all the information she could obtain about the SAO incident, including the original news article where Kayaba announced the deathgame, the article that said experts have hacked the database of the game, and finally the article stating that the government has given up trying to disable the system as it was impenetrable. Suguha was ecstatic when she heard that the database had been successfully hacked, but it turned out that it only contained the game's database for the first half of the game. Nonetheless Suguha went to great lengths to collect all the information and absorb it.

_Mother's probably not going to forgive me for this, but I must bring onii-chan back_

Taking out a box under her bed, Suguha carefully took out the silver helmet, it's letters clearly legible – NERVEGEAR.

With the original intention of playing with Kazuto, Suguha had secretly arranged a friend to buy her the game, she had brought the box to school, and in her daze she did not bring it back home when she heard about her brother's predicament. Ironically, that was the reason that she was able to keep the box undiscovered since it would have been confiscated otherwise.

_Onii-chan, wait for me, I'll come to bring you home._


	28. The Real Beginning of SAO

**Floor 3 – The Real Beginning of SAO**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I am away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Author Notes 2: Jet-lagged as %* ... Will try to fix up my writing once I feel better**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **A lot of irony, plus drama and dramatic irony maybe?

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: November 23, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [~21:30]

Location: [3rd Floor – Path Leading to 3rd Floor]

"I swear, something's not right about the game, it must be broken or something. Maybe Kayaba should release us all and redo the levels." Klein joked as he turned around, lagging behind from his group as he turned to Kiroto. The main groups had marched ahead, celebrating their victory as they prepared to opening the 3rd floor.

"Well, as long as we are able to complete the floor without casualties, I'm not complaining." Kirito replied, though he was also slightly surprised at the outcome. Two days, that's how long it had taken them to clear the second floor.

Granted, there were issues in between, the main one being the scam involving the group Legend Braves. By using a cleverly thought up method of abusing the [quickchange] skill, the group Legend Braves scammed many players of their upgraded weapons. Furthermore, an unfortunate had lost their life – though that fact till awaits confirmation.

Eventually the group was exposed, or rather they gave themselves in, and the general verdict was that there was no need for the group Legend Braves to pay with their lives, but rather atone for their mistakes.

Still, the bottom line was that the second floor had been cleared in a fraction of the time it took them to clear the first.

_Funny how beta testers called the 2__nd__ floor the 'cow level', it really became true. _Kirito thought in his head, making sure that he didn't speak out loud.

Once again the information on the final boss had been incorrect, and as expected there were people implicating the players that participated in the beta – led by a certain cactus-headed beta hater. Luckily a majority of the front line players had accepted that the game had become unpredictable, and that from the third floor onwards information regarding the floor boss should be obtained through completing quests on the floor.

"But still, to think you could almost solo the Taurus King for a short period of time. Did you really not get a hacked item from the GM's?" Klein grinned at Kirito, who glared at him in response.

"Well, his two [Anneal Blade +8] are pretty close to being hacked, I'm still surprised how it worked out. I'm surprised I managed to get both of them to +8 without failing." Lisbeth commented. Unfortunately her streak was not as perfect as she had wished, even after obtaining the upgraded [Grando's Hammer] from the blacksmith back in 1st floor.

Although she had successfully upgraded Asuna's [Wind Fleuret] to the maximum +6, she failed once on each of the other weapons she upgraded. As a result, Klein's [Steel Scimitar+2] was due for an upgrade soon. Silica's [The Sting +6], and Argo's [Felicia's Claws +5] were still formidable, but since they lost 1 upgrade they would probably need an upgrade before confronting the floor boss as well. The only weapon that was still useful for the next level was Kirito's rare [Anneal Blade +8], which he had two - [7S1D] and [6S2D].

"Well, it's to be expected that failures occur once in a while, it's a random roll afterall." Kirito explained

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying that I'm incompetent?" Lisbeth fumed at Kirito

"Well, your [Metal Refining] has barely broke 100, I'm impressed you were able to get so many successes in the first place." Kirito spoke honestly

"Why you!"

"Kirito-san please stop provoking her. Lisbeth-san, calm down please." Silica panicked as she tried to stop Lisbeth from jumping at Kirito

"Kirito-kun, would you like someone to teach you to have some decency?" Asuna's cold stare pierced Kirito, who instinctively took a step back.

"Anyways…" Kirito changed the subject. "Now that we're on the third floor, we'll find that this is where the real Sword Art Online starts."

"What do you mean?"

"Let me explain Kii-bou. In the first floor, there was no predominant scheme to the floor, everything including the landscape, mobs, and NPCs were a mixed bag. In the second floor, we began to see a scheme for the landscape, namely mountains and pastures.

However, the mobs in the second floor still remained as animals and the occasional 'demi-human' such as the Taurus, and the Kobald in the first floor. Now that we are on the third floor, we will begin to see mobs that are fully humanoid, as well as NPC's that can interact with players in a more engaged fashion." After Argo's explanation, the group nodded in silence.

"In a way, if Kayaba was honest when he said he wanted SAO to be lived, then this floor onwards will show whether his conviction was true." Kirito added, then as he remembered something, he turned around and walked back towards the second floor.

"Hey, where are you going?" Klein asked.

"I'm going to scout that forest section a little back there, while the floor is still under the 'recently activated' status. Otherwise it will be significantly harder once the spawn rates go back up." Kirito responded, "I'll join you guys soon, so join the main group with the town opening celebration."

"Don't worry, Kii-bou's just not used to being in a crowd. Besides, he'll get too much attention, being in the center of a group of beautiful girls." Argo joked, as she and the remaining group continued towards the new town.

Kirito sighed as he turned around, despite being surrounded by a group of friends, and slowly being accepted by the front lines, he still felt uneasy.

_In the end, I ended up getting the LA on all three of the boss mobs (Nato, Balun, and Astros King), though not intentionally. Eventually someone's going to find out and get jealous, so I'd better not drag the others down._

Walking back towards the second floor, Kirito saw a girl run towards him. The girl had blond hair that was accented with a small ribbon short braids on each side of her head, and a green armored shirt that matched her ribbon. Her appearance was cute, perhaps understatedly so, and her body was slim but well conditioned. Kirito almost mistook her for an elf, a common NPC in the area, if not for her icon on top of her indicating that she was a player.

_Odd that I never noticed someone like that, she looked like someone that would fit perfect on the front lines._ Kirito thought, as the girl ran past him towards the city.

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"I'm back" Kirito spoke to his companions as he walked into the town square, noting that the celebration has long subsided.

"Missed the festivities as expected, Mr. Black?" Agil greeted Kirito, noting that he didn't like the nickname, 'blackie'

"Didn't expect you to pop racist jokes, Agil, but yeah I went to do some scouting" Kirito replied, bumping his fist to Agil's.

"Well, you didn't miss much. Apart from Kibaou's complaining that he got sidelined despite being one of the 'leaders'." Lisbeth described.

"Oh, and there was another strange thing that happened also." Silica joined in, still a little chirpy after the opening celebration.

Kirito looked at Silica, waiting for her to explain.

"Once the gate opened, many people started to come out of the portal. But there was a girl that suddenly ran into the portal against the waves of people coming out. A few people fell from the shock, and then a pileup occurred." The young girl continued, calming down a bit.

"It definitely was a scene." Asuna agreed

"Hey, do any of you know who the girl was? She looked really cute!" Klein jumped in, overhearing the conversation.

"No idea, why don't you ask Argo, Mr. bandit, 23 and single?" Lisbeth teased.

"Don't remind me! And it's 21! (well… almost 22)" Klein yelled.

Kirito laughed as he noted that the girl was probably the one he passed by earlier.

_Why would someone run into the portal like that? Maybe someone fighting in the 2__nd__ floor labyrinth who ran out of potions?_

Brushing his thoughts aside, Kirito turned to his companions.

"Anyways, I've completed my scouting, and I'm planning to do a little leveling before calling it a day. Unfortunately I don't know of any good and cheap inns in the first town, so good luck if you're planning to crash here."

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_So how did I end up in a full party? _Kirito thought, as he was fighting the [Treant Sapling], its branches slashed his body, creating red glowing cuts as his HP was decreased.

Behind him, Asuna, Silica, Lisbeth, Klein, and Agil were waiting ready in a group, as his HP was reaching the 10% switch out point he had decided on.

Currently Kirito and his group were engaged in what was called [Skill Training], a training regime that focused on maximizing skill gain over gaining exp. Commonly used in games that promoted skill gain through usage, this system usually brought about a plague of offline bot/macro users that would have a external program perform the skill for the character while the actual player was away from the game.

Obviously, in SAO there was no issue with offline gamers, as all the players were in the game all day, but at the same time that is the reason why skill training was necessary. In this game, sword skills are used so commonly that they can be said to dictate the life, in a situation where a skill was not sufficiently developed a player might lose their life as a result. That is why Kirito never forgot to train his skills, even as he leveled through the floors. He always tried to make sure his skills and his level was more than sufficient for the floor he was at, especially during times when the group was unable to break through a floor.

Ironically, the fact that the players broke through the 2nd floor in two days put Kirito behind schedule. He had intended for the floor to take longer to master, so that he would be able to increase his skill gain.

"Switch!" Kirito dealt a hard hit to the Treant, and jumped back, at the same time, Silica fired a round of throwing picks at it, and followed by a light hit to the Treant to get its attention.

"So that's why your level hasn't gone much, even though you've gotten much stronger." Klein exclaimed. Even though Kirito's level did not increase, everyone witnessed that both his damage on the Taurus floor boss was greater than on the Kobald floor boss.

"Well, that's one reason…" Kirito replied, diverting attention away from the other fact, that his weapons were special. Kirito quickly realized that the Taurus class was weak to his 'darkened' blade, and that it dispatched them with ease.

"So, why did you not practice this to the point of mastery earlier?" Asuna tilted her head, wondering why Kirito, who was definitely an overachiever in this game, would not master everything if there was a possible method.

"Well, I tried before in the beta, but everytime I do this too much my gain becomes much less… it seems that there's a limit to how much I can do this every level. In the beta I never mastered any skills, even though I got pretty high."

"So something along the lines of diminishing returns to scale…?" Asuna pondered the issue, this time Kirito was clueless.

"So Kirito-san, how much did you master your skills into the beta" Silica asked, having switched out with Klein.

"About 400 or so.. it was really slow and painful though…"

"I don't know what is more painful, knowing you actually got to 400 while casually playing, or knowing that you only got to 400" Lisbeth added, putting his hand to her head.

"Anyways, now that this game is real, it is necessary to do this. Especially this [Battle Healing] skill, as it can mean the difference of life and death, especially if crystals can't be used…" Kirito quickly changed the topic.

"That's true, especially for tank-class builds like mine, we can last a great deal longer if our hp was continually being restored." Agil agreed, looking really happy. "I'm glad you invited me."

"Last time I spend an entire week on these [Treant Sapping], coming back even though the higher floors had been cleared. I find these mobs to be the best at leveling [Battle Healing], as they hit frequently, but they don't do much damage nor do they have status effects. During the beta it helped me break 300, though it might require the 9th floor to be cleared though." Kirito continued

"Sounds like a long process…" Lisbeth sighed

"It sure is, but it's worth every bit, especially when it's a matter of life and death."

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By the time the group returned to town, it was already past 23:00, and most of the streets were already deserted.

"Guess we'll have to sell our drops later." Kirito said, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

The girls gave each other a glance, and then replied "Good night." While Klein and Agil waved their hands and walked off.

As Kirito was about to walk down the alley, his collar was grabbed.

"You're not planning on going back to the fields and leveling again?" Asuna stared at Kirito accusingly.

"Uh… no, I just wanted to check if I dropped anything… " Kirito said what was the best excuse at the time, which obviously did not work.

"I knew it. You're sleeping, whether you like it or not, come with us." Asuna demanded.

"Wait… what are you saying?" Kirito asked frantically, recalling the scene at Tolbana, several days ago…

"Kirito-kun, do you want the news headline tomorrow to be [Hentai Arrested] with your mug as the front page?"

"No… I wouldn't dare…"

"Good, now you're coming with us."

As Kirito was dragged off by Asuna, Silica and Lisbeth looked at each other, nodded then followed.

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The next day, Kirito ended up the newspaper [Argo Daily] anyways.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" Kirito yelled, his voice booming over the laughter of the girls at the breakfast table.

[Argo's guide on obtaining the [Martial Arts] skill. (Provided by Kiri-e-mon)

**Author Notes:** Well.. no more procrastinating, I'll have to decide whether or not I want to follow "Concerto of Black and White"… I'm thinking of not following, since the LN only has very little translated… I hope you guys don't mind if I'm more than vague when touching on the subject. Oh BTW, next is another side-story. I'm sure you all know who the blond elf player is though…


	29. Interlude - Suguha 2nd

**Interlude - Suguha-side 2nd**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Author Notes 2: This chapter was actually written on the plane, so expect TONs of errors and mistakes**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **The second part to Suguha's introduction, just a little more angst and we'll be back to the main AU. Plus a little, actually, a lot of irony.

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Location: Real World ]**

**[Date: November 26, 2022]**

**[Time: 14:00]**

"Doctor, how is her condition?" the worried mother asked the man in the white robe.

"Her physical injuries have all been treated, and we expect her to make a full recover. Unfortunately, I'm afraid your daughter still has not regained consciousness."

"No, how cruel… Suguha too" her mother began to weep.

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**[Location: Real World ]**

**[Date: November 23, 2022]**

**[Time: 20:30]**

Suguha's mother opened the door to her daughter's room, and was shocked at the sight. Her daughter was lying on her bed, and on covering her head was the monstrosity that had taken her foster son.

"Suguha, stop this at once!" Midori Kirigaya ran to her daughter's bed and tried to stop her daughter, but she was too late.

"Link Start!" Suguha calmly recited

A moment of silence passed, as mother and daughter awaited the moment that would separate the two… but it did not come.

"Why?" Suguha asked, in front of her was a system message [Error: Cannot Connect to Server - Access Denied]

Suguha's NERVEGEAR was quickly pulled off and thrown to the floor, her mother fuming over her actions.

"SUGUHA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" her mother bellowed.

"Mother… I…" Suguha didn't know how to respond. Her conflicting emotions had put her into a state of confusion. She just lost her last hope at seeing her brother, and now she had to face her mother's pained expression.

Unable to bear the stress, Suguha charged out of the room and down the stairs, her mother in chase. It was the pinnacle of bad luck, as the normally athletic Suguha slipped on the stairs and fell down.

Watching a motionless Suguha at the bottom of the flight of stairs, her mother let out a scream.

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"I have contacted the related parties, and we have determined that your daughter's comatose state was not caused by the NERVEGEAR that she was wearing.

The doctor's report brought Midori back to reality, as her daughter's situation was described.

"According to records, all inactive NERVEGEAR systems were permanently disabled on November 6 via a hardware chip that stored the date. So at least we are able to guarantee that your daughter has a chance at awakening earlier." The doctor continued.

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation, as a man dressed in a suit walked in.

"Are you Mrs. Midori Kirigaya?" The man asked

"Yes I am"

"I'm sorry to hear about your daughter and son. I am Kikuoka Seijirou, a member of the SAO Incident Countermeasure Team. I apologize to for coming at a delicate time as this, but I may have a way to help your children."

"Really? You mean you can get my daughter and son to wake up?" Suguha's mother suddenly jumped up, and grabbed the man's hands.

"Unfortunately, it is an experimental product, but in theory it is possible. I've looked over your daughter's neural scans, and have consulted experts with methods for her to regain her consciousness. According to the experts, using stimulus that closely relates to her is most effective. It seems like a cruel coincidences of fate, but after consideration, we have made the conclusion…"

"Kazuto"

"Yes.. if there's any way for your daughter to recover, it is to interact with her brother. We have acquired a machine that works in a similar fashion to the NERVEGEAR, actually it should be the other way around. Our device is a medical device designed to isolate a patient from their physical body, so that physical treatments can be made without the potential of psychological damage. Please follow me."

Following the man, Midori was led into a white quarantine room several floors below.

"This is it, our experimental unit, originally to be put into testing next month. Due to the circumstances, we are giving you the decision to try out the unit with your daughter. Unfortunately, we only know of one piece of software that is fully developed for this hardware, that is why I wish for you to make the decision."

"SAO, isn't it" Midori sighed…. Inside she cursed fate for playing such a cruel joke on her.

"Rest assured, this device does not have the capability to fry your daughter's brain as the Nervegear does. However, it is likely that if she is deleted from the server, that she will be unable to re-login. At that time, our treatment will be forced to terminate."

_Suguha, was this your will as well? You've already decided on chasing Kazuto right?_

"I understand, please take care of them… my daughter and Kazuto."

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_Huh? What is this? Where am I?_

"Welcome to Sword Art Online"

[Name: Kirigaya Suguha]

[Account: Leafa]

[Password: ******]

[Customized character loaded, entering Aincrad]

_How? Am I dreaming?_

[Good Luck]

_Onii-chan…._

*bump*

"Ouch…." The sensation of the ground hitting her brought Suguha back into reality, SAO's virtual reality.

"How did I end up here?" Suguha asked herself, but nobody was there to answer.

_All I remember was that I was unable to log into SAO with the NERVEGEAR, and then mother came, I ran out... and I think I slipped on the stairs… but why am I here? Is this even real?_

Suguha motioned her fingers the way the manuals taught her to, and the player's menu popped up. She noted that there were things inside the 'items' menu – [Handheld Mirror], [SAO Guide, 1-50], and [Letter to Leafa].

Openining up the [Letter to Leafa], a message popped up:

_Dear Suguha-san,_

_I'm sure you've realized that you have entered the world of SAO, and be assured that this is the SAO that your brother is also trapped in. _

_Unfortunately you are in a state where your physical body must require treatment, and entering you into SAO is part of the treatment._

_I have included a guide for the first 50 levels of SAO, which was the combined effort of all of us at the SAO incident task force, please use it well. Also, the [Handheld Mirror] will allow you to resume your original appearance._

_Finally, although your physical body will not die if you are killed in the game, please note that we will be unable to bring you back into the game. Please avoid death at all costs._

_Good Luck_

_Kikuoka Seijirou_

Leafa took a while to take in all that information, and then smiled.

_I've done it, now I can finally find my onii-chan and save him._

Opening the [SAO Guide], Leafa quickly ran towards the nearest town, noting that she needed to return to [Starting City] through the teleport in town. She did not pay attention as to why she appeared in the 3rd floor, nor did she notice the face of the black swordsman who walked by her.


	30. Encounters in the Land of Elves

**Floor 3 – Encounters in the Land of the Elves**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I am away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Author Notes 2: Still jet-lagged as %* ... Will try to fix up my writing once I feel better**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Well, I'll definitely stray from canon quite a bit, but oh well… (since there's almost no source material at this point…. Haha, I'll claim that the LN is taking stuff off me… j/k)

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: November 24, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 9:30]

Location: [3rd Floor – Misty Forest]

After breakfast, Kirito and the group left for the field, but not before finishing business.

[Kirito: ARGO! WHAT DID YOU DO? ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL STOP SENDING GUIDES ]

Noting that the girls had finally calmed down, Kirito spoke. "I'm going to be going on a quest that rewards me with a sword that's after my next sword. The quest is a little long so I don't think we sh… " at this point Kirito stopped, as a hand grabbed his sleeve.

"Kirito-san, I think you should give up, because you're not going alone. Besides, someone's going to get mad if you continue." Silica said as she let go of Kirito's sleeve, pointing at the girl across the table.

"Silica-chan, I wasn't going to get mad." Asuna pouted her face as she held her hands at her hip.

"More like you were going to pound him into the ground." Lisbeth teased, at which Asuna turned around.

"Hmph… go alone if you want, see if I care" Asuna said as she walked off.

"Oops… did we go too far?" Lisbeth stuck her tongue out.

"Asuna-san" Silica mumbled as she watched Asuna walk off.

"What happened to her? Did she get an upset stomach?" Kirito asked, to which the girls glared at him coldly.

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Kirito, Lisbeth and Silica stood at the entrance to [Misty Forest], the beginning to a quest that would last until the 9th floor. He had messaged Argo, Klein and Agil, and was reading the replies.

[Argo: Thanks for the guide; I'll have it up as soon as I can. I'll pass for the quest though, but send me the results, there's tons of information that I need to purchase. BTW, if you have time I'm always available for some private partying with Kii-bou.]

[Agil: Thanks for the invite, but I'll pass for now since I have to get my weapon upgraded]

[Klein: Sorry bro, I'm gonna do the quest with my friends, cuz we'll be doing the quest as a guild. Don't forget you're still the 'honorary leader' though.]

_Oh yeah… I almost forgot that they could start their guild now, since the 3__rd__ floor has been opened._

"Okay, let's go then" Kirito announced to the two girls, who seemed slightly uneasy.

"But Asuna-san…" Silica said, hoping that Kirito would wait for her.

"She's OK, I messaged her and she'll join us soon." Lisbeth answered for Kirito, at which point Kirito nodded and started to walk into the forest.

"OK, before we go in, let's talk about the monsters we'll b facing. Even though we're on the 3rd floor, the monsters in this forest are mainly animal or plant based, so luckily we won't having to deal with sword skills. On the other hand, they are as strong as the mobs in the 2nd floor labyrinth, and they are also programmed to lure us into the forest."

"Last and most important, open your map." Kirito continues, "As you can see, the path on the map is very faint, and you cannot see beyond a short distance. This is where this place gets its name – [Misty Forest], if you get caught up in a fight, you may end up lost and end up killed. So make sure you don't stray from the path."

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Half an hour later, the group had walked around mapping the immediate area of the forest entrance, and had also fought a few battles with the local mobs.

"Well, at least they're easier to smash apart compared to the last labyrinth." Lisbeth said, sitting down after mashing up another Treant.

"They're pretty hard to fight though, I can't close in because of all their branches." Silica complained, having used up most of her throwing picks.

"Well, at least you guys are used to fighting them now. Should we head further in now?" Kirito asked. Nodding, the two girls followed Kirito, heading deeper into the forest.

All of a sudden, a large thump was heard, and the three looked forwards to see a huge imposing tree shadowing their avatars.

"Oh no! Spread out!" Kirito shouted, he recognized this mob to be one of the more dangerous – the 'Elder Treant'. Although it was just a normal-class mob, its stats were comparable to a field boss. It also had irritating abilities that made it hard to kill, and the worse was its [Pollen Cloud] that would inflict [Confusion] and cause allies to fight each other. The best way to deal with the Treant was to avoid conflict.

"RUN!" Kirito dashed away from the tree, as he called the retreat. He grabbed Lisbeth's hand, and ran towards Silica, but unfortunately the Treant blocked their path as it followed Silica deeper in the forest.

"SILICA!" Lisbeth screamed.

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"I can't find here, what should we do?" Lisbeth asked, her worry visibly showing as her voice trebled.

"She's fine at the moment, keep looking; the map indicates she's close by." Kirito reassured Lisbeth

"What is the system isn't working in this map? What if Silica's fighting against a mob and she's in danger now?" Lisbeth couldn't contain her worried, her eyes now tear-filled.

"…" Kirito didn't know how to reply, what Lisbeth said was true, although he didn't want to admit it. It had been the first time he has actually had to track someone in this forest (that wasn't an NPC), and he never realized that his [Tracking] skill did not work in [Misty Forest].

Naturally during the beta test it was not a concern, but now that he had companions his oversight proved to be potentially fatal. He also soon learnt that calling out for Silica was a lost cause, as the forest had been designed to disperse noise through its densely populated foliage. He could hear echos of each of their voices, but it was impossible to pinpoint. The messaging system was also disabled when any party was inside the forest.

Lisbeth suddenly ran into Kirito's arms, and started weeping "What if she doesn't come back? What if Asuna also disappears? I don't want to be alone anymore; it's too hard to bear. Just when we've finally started to find our place in this game…" Kirito could do nothing but stand there, stroking Lisbeth's hair, until calmed down. He was also worried sick about Silica, but there was not much he could do. Judging the situation to be dangerous for everyone, he made a decision and grabbed Lisbeth's hand.

"What are you doing?" Lisbeth asked in shock, not yet recovered from her condition.

"I'm leading you outside first, the last thing we need is to get separated." Kirito said.

"NO! I don't want to leave, let me…." Lisbeth protested loudly.

Kirito suddenly grabbed Lisbeth's shoulders, looked her in the eyes, and spoke resolutely.

"Lisbeth! Listen to me! If we panic here, we might lose you and Silica. I won't allow that to happen, that's why I need you to leave the forest and find help. At least Asuna and maybe Argo, Klein, Agil or even some of the clearers. The more people the safer it will be."

Looking down, Lisbeth stopped her sobbing, and muttered an OK. Kirito let go of her shoulders and started to lead Lisbeth out.

Once they cleared the forest, they were met with the clearly-distressed rapier-wielder, who sprinted to their side when they emerged.

"Liz! I was so worried about you guys. I couldn't message either of you and when I entered the forest I realized that it would be impossible to track you down." Asuna hugged Lisbeth as she started pouring out her worries.

"I'm sorry Asuna, we're fine, but Silica's gone missing!" Lisbeth quietly informed Asuna, who jumped and grabbed Kirito's collar

"How could you get separated with her?" Asuna only got one sentence out, before she noticed Kirito's expression and let go of him.

"I'm sorry, but right now isn't the time to be apologizing. I need you two to organize a searching party, in case I can't find her in the next 15 minutes. I don't care how, but we need numbers and levels." Kirito ordered the two, "I'm going back in, and I'll be out in 15 minutes if I can't find her. If I don't contact you in 15 minutes, then start searching yourselves."

"Understood," The two nodded in confirmation.

"Good, wish me luck." Kirito said, as he turned around.

"Kirito!" Lisbeth suddenly called out to him. He turned around again and faced her.

"Don't overstress yourself. At this rate, Silica will probably flee when she sees your expression! Relax and keep your mind flexible, just as you always do. By the way… Thanks…" Lisbeth blushed slightly as she looked away.

"I'll be back soon." Kirito answered, as he dashed back into the forest.

"What happened back there?" Asuna asked

"Nothing much. Let's go, we don't have time to waste." Lisbeth answered, running towards the town, Asuna following behind.

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With both blades drawn, Kirito headed into the forest with blazing speed. He no longer cared for whether he would get lost or now, but only focused on one thing.

_If I can map out the entire area quickly, the odds of locating Silica would be increased._

"SILICA! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, DO NOT MOVE FROM WHERE YOU ARE!" Kirito bellowed, as he charged through.

As a [Treant Sapling] appeared in front of Kirito, he charged straight at it, and launched in a ferocious combination of skills, without even using the system assist that SAO offered.

Left stab (LS), right slash (RS), roundhouse right slash (RHR), kick, twin overhead slant (TOS), twin vertical arc (TVA).

The [Treant Sapling] disappeared into polygons before it had dealt any significant damage to Kirito, but at this point Kirito didn't even pay attention. He continued to dash forward, mowing down any resistance he encountered.

_Wait for me Silica, I promise I'll find you._

Suddenly, Kirito heard the sound of water, and he stopped. It sounded like a flowing water, and it was somewhere towards the right, as Kirito could make out the steam in the air. Slowing his pace down, Kirito walked cautiously towards the source.

_I don't recall hearing about a waterfall in the beta, I guess that was an addition to the level. I'd better be careful, since I don't know what I may find._

Downing a potion to recover his HP which had actually dropped into the red, Kirito walked through the bushes. A unexpected view welcomed Kirito as he stepped through.

In front of Kirito was a body of water the size of a small swimming pool, measuring probably around 10 meters wide and 20 meters long, though it was irregular in size. There was steam coming up from the pool, and occasional bubbles popped to the surface.

_Of all things… an onsen in the middle of a forest? _Kirito frowned at the notion that it was such a waste, then quickly casts his thoughts aside.

"Kururu!" A creature's noise quickly drew Kirito's attention. He turned and faced his assailant, and quickly jumped back as far as he could. The mob that he was facing was part of the dragon group of monsters, and were rare to encounter, depending on the color and appearance these dragons ranked from elite common monsters, to undefeatable field bosses that were well beyond the floor's level range.

Kirito's first encounter with one of these mobs was in the 9th floor of the beta, the last that they reached, just outside the labyrinth area. It was said to have single-handedly obliterated a 12 member party, and Kirito's only encounter with it ended up being a one-sided affair, dying before he managed to land a single blow.

Holding both blades nervously, Kirito prepared his plan of escape. He felt significantly stronger than he was in the beta, despite being lower in level, and could probably block the first attack of the dragon. The rest was down to luck.

"Pina? Where did you go?" All of a sudden, a familiar voice came from behind the dragon. Kirito stared in shock as Silica walked towards the dragon as it lay on her shoulder. Silica for some odd reason was not wearing her armor, but merely a one piece skirt that was soaked in water.

"Silica!" Kirito let out a yelp that was definitely out of his normal character.

"Kirito-san, look at what I fou…." Silica's voice was muffled as Kirito sprinted over and hugged the girl, apparently forgetting about the presence of the dragon.

"I'm so glad I found you… we were worried sick" Kirito said in a wavering voice, as he hugged Silica tightly

"Kirito-san…" Silica fell silent as she stroked Kirito's back, realizing that he must have gone through a great deal of stress… "sorry for making you worry."

"It's all fine, as long as you're OK, as long as we didn't lose you…" Kirito muttered.

"Anyways Kirito-san, could you be a little gentler? It hurts a bit… and could you turn around?" Silica added shyly, to which Kirito jumped back and turned around with his face red. He finally realized that Silica was probably wearing a nightgown, now that he came back to his senses. In the air, the little dragon flapped its blue feathers, observing the two.

Later, slowly walking back towards the entrance, Silica described what happened after they got separated.

"When I ran from the Treant, I completely panicked and ran as fast as I could, and before I realized it I was at the edge of the hot springs. I saw that the Treant had followed me here, so I hid in those rocks over there." Silica pointed to the rocks that were on the far side of the water, noting how the water dropping created a fog to hide her.

"As the Treant came close, that's when Pina here flew out of the bushes there and started fighting the Treant. It was really strong and took out the Treant quickly, using some sort of bubble and water attack, and I was pretty scared of it in the first place. Afterwards, she landed on the rocks, and started to drink the water."

"So I'm guessing this one's a [Feathery Dragon], and probably an infant." Kirito looked at the dragon, who looked back at Kirito with curious eyes. Kirito had not fought the feathery dragon before, but according to information from the beta, [Feathery Dragons] were more passive, but had high hp and regeneration abilities making them not worthwhile to fight.

"Then the strangest thing happened, Pina fell into the water and started drowning. I guess I must have been detected, probably because I came out from behind the rocks, and startled her so maybe she lost her step. The next thing I knew was that I had fished Pina out of the water, and I drenched." Silica's voice trailed off, as she recalled the events leading to her meeting Kirito in a drenched nightgown.

"Anyways, so did any system message pop up after taming this dragon, I mean, Pina?" Kirito quickly changed the subject quickly, as Silica calmed down.

"Well, at first Pina just sort of stayed around me but didn't fly away. So out of curiosity I took one of the [roasted peanuts] that I bought on the second floor, and gave it to Pina. I remember my cat really liked roasted peanuts also, so that's why I named her Pina as well. Then the system message popped up with two new skills – [Familiar Communication] and [Familiar Healing]" Silica commented, lightly petting the dragon that was snuggling to her neck.

"Well, that's a first. Maybe I should congratulate you for becoming the first dragon tamer." Kirito smiled.

"By the way, Kirito-san, Thank you for coming to save me again, and sorry for worrying you." Silica quietly apologized, as she grabbed onto Kirito's hand.

"I promised you didn't I, since I was the one who dragged you in, I'll try everything I can to keep us together. Besides, I can't let my online little sister get hurt can I?" Kirito joked, finally relieving all the tension he had built up.

"Thank you. Kirito - nii- san!" Silica playfully latched herself onto Kirito's arm, noting the tingling sensation inside her heart.

_I'm so glad I decided to leave [Starting City] to explore the world… hehe…_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Silica-chan!" Asuna ran and hugged Silica, followed by a smiling Lisbeth.

Behind them, Agil and Klein's group had their weapons drawn, wary of the little dragon that was flying behind them. Argo, on the other hand, was keeping her distance and apparently taking pictures.

"Yeah, so sorry about worrying you guys, and thanks for your help.." Kirito greeted with a little bit of guilt. He sort of felt bad for dragging them off from their leveling for nothing.

"Don't worry about it Kirito, I owe you guys from all the help you've given me. Probably more than you think as well." Agil replied, finally resting his axe on the floor.

"No problems man, that's what brothers are for." Klein smiled, as his group ran up and greeted everyone.

"And so… to celebrate Silica-chan becoming a dragon-tamer, and to commemorate our 3rd floor reunion, let's go eat lunch. Obviously, it's going to be Kii-bou's treat." Argo announced slyly, as she continued. "My latest informant told me about this really good restaurant down in the market area, and from what I heard they serve the best dessert thus far. Obviously it's pretty expensive, but nothing for our super-monster-hunter over here."

Everyone turned to Kirito, who laid his raised his hands in resignation and sighed.

Walking slowly, Kirito watched the group ahead of him happily chatting amongst themselves as they headed towards town.

_Is this the world Kayaba wanted to create?_

Kirito wondered shortly, as the twin-tailed girl grabbed his hand.

"Come on Kirito-san, you're falling behind." Silica beamed happily, as she urged Kirito to hurry up

"Okay, let's go!" Kirito smiled, as he and Silica joined the rest of the group. Little did he know, about the condition of his cousin, or the fact that a pair of eyes was observing him in the distance throughout the day.


	31. Concerto in the Land of the Elves

**Floor 3 – Concerto in the Land of the Elves**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**_CLARIFICATIONS:_**

**SPOILER ALERT! AS OF CHAPTER 29!**

**RE: SAO LOCKDOWN SYSTEM**

- Rinko did something in Ch.5  
- Kayaba mentioned something in Ch.11

- Interpreting Canon material. NERVEGEAR, AMUSPHERE, MEDICUBOID, and SOUL TRANSLATOR use similar but different systems.

- And if none of the reasons seemed justified...

Unexpected error = get out of jail free = cop-out... lol

**Author Notice: I am away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Just read the first portion of Concerto of Black/White, and I think I'll be trying to incorporate elements into my story. Remember, this is an AU, so please don't kill me if things deviate from the original LN

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: November 24, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 14:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Misty Forest]

Kirito was amazed by Silica's new partner, a [Feathery Dragon] she affectionately named after her cat Pina, and how it increased the entire group's fighting ability. He long knew that tamed familiars would carry different abilities from their monster counterpart, and that familiars played a support role, but he never expected Pina to carry the two important skills for a solo-player.

For odd reason, Kirito felt that the dragon was not running on a mere algorithm, but a complex AI capable of learning. Normally AI familiars should only be able to understand a dozen or so commands, and during combat it would randomly use its skills. Pina, however, seemed to share a bond with Silica, to the point where it would know the precise time to cast a [Heal (10%)] on Silica, or when to confuse the enemy with its [Bubble Breath]. Most importantly, it had a natural ability to detect mobs, which was even more acute than Kirito's [Searching] ability, an ability that proved overwhelmingly valuable in a map such as [Misty Forest].

"Well, we're here, let's get started." Kirito announced to his party, trying to make up his lost pace.

"So, what are we going to do?" Lisbeth asked, swinging her new [Steel Mace 3H1D], trying to get used to the feel of her new weapon. It was her first created weapon, and it turned out very well. Under Kirito's recommendations, Lisbeth attempted to upgrade it to the maximum, resulting in 4 successes and 1 failure.

"Well, we'll soon find out, but before that, are you confident about your ears?" Kirito asked.

"Huh? What's with that question? Is that one of your fetishes?" Asuna took a step back, and covered her ears.

While Silica looked at Kirito innocently, Lisbeth could hardly hold back her laughter.

"No… I don't mean it that way…. Anyways… I need you to lend me your hearing." Kirito explained, "Let's stand back to back, and we need to locate a clanging sound, a sound of metal colliding"

The four people stood back to back, and closed their eyes. Suddenly, after taking one step forwards, all four pointed in the same direction – south-west. Kirito opened his eyes and looked at the others, then nodded.

Looking into the large clearing they reached, two silhouettes were engage in a battle to the death. On one side was a tall male in gold and green armor, his long platinum hair extending to his arms, which held a high quality long-sword and round shield. Facing him was a dark-skinned female, donning purple and black, her curved saber and kite shield showed an equal in terms of item quality.

"What's this? Two "!" at the same time?" Asuna asked, having never encountered a simultaneous quest option.

"Well, so put it simply, which side to we side for. The male is a woodelf, and the female is a darkelf. The decision will last up until the 9th floor, with consecutive quests after this one. Oh, and if you fail the quest you can't do it again. This is a [unique quest] ." Kirito threw out several revelations casually, as the group was shocked.

"You know, you really should have told us EARLIER?" Lisbeth complained, giving the 'as usual' expression, then putting her palm to her head.

"So Kirito-san, how do we choose?"

"Majority vote? I'd help the dark elf."

"I'll help the female." Lisbeth commented.

"Why not the guy" Asuna asked?

"I don't know, so I'll pass."

"So, it's decided, let's step out and help the dark elf. Once you make the choice the wood-elf will attack you, on we succeed in holding it off for 5 minutes, the dark-elf will use a sacrifice move and kill the wood-elf." Kirito warned the group as he walked out in the opening.

"Stop human! Or prepare to die!" The wood-elf warned

"We are in the middle of a duel, so unless you join one of our sides." The Dark Elf continued, and Kirito quickly said "We are going to help you."

As if on cue, Kirito's group surrounded the wool-elf, who remained standing still and silent. Kirito awaited the first move.

Suddenly, the wood-elf turned to Kirito, and a [duel] pop-up appeared, shocking him.

"I see that I cannot win in this situation in an all-out fight. I demand by the right of the **Code** a duel with your strongest to settle our dispute." The wood-elf finally spoke, to everyone's amazement.

"Are you sure that this elf's really an NPC?" Asuna asked Kirito, who was having doubts himself. He never encountered a mob that would request a duel with a player character.

"Very well, even though we are mortal enemies, the **Code** requires that I adhere to the humans' decision." The dark elf replied, now turning to the human, "My **Code** requires that I allow the enemy to request a fair duel, but you are not bound to his offer. If you refuse, I will simply crush the enemy."

Kirito looked at the dark elf with interest, he did not encounter such dialogue in the beta test, as his group quickly attacked the wood-elf once the decision was made. The resulting battle was brutal, as they struggled to even survive for 2 minutes. But now was an opportunity to test himself against the wood-elf alone, now that he has leveled up significantly from the last time.

Selecting 'accept first to 30%', Kirito responded "I accept your challenge, may the best swordsman be victorious. He noticed his own HP restore to 100%, as well as the wood-elf's HP, and the 60 second countdown began.

Materializing his other sword, Kirito unsheathed both blades. By this time his party had already witnessed Kirito fighting with both blades, but nobody understood why he would be willing to forego [Sword Skills] in order to use another weapon. They were about to find out.

As the countdown timer went down from 5, the observers looked on at the duel with interest, it wasn't an everyday occurrence that they would be able to observe a duel between an NPC and a player after all.

"3 ….2 …..1 ….. 0!"

All Kirito managed to see was a flash of light, his instincts causing him to jump right, in his original position, wood-elf had already closed the distance and stabbed the spot he was standing at. He quickly charged forward and slashed with his right [Dark Anneal Blade], which was blocked by the elf's [Round Shield]

"Impressive for a human, I expected to defeat you in that opening hit. So far no human in our history has been able to avoid our [Fatal Light], a one-time skill that we often employ to defeat our enemies in a duel." The wood-elf spoke with a tinge of surprise in his voice. Kirito jumped back as the wood-elf pushed back his sword with the [Round Shield], maintaining a ready position as the elf continued to speak.

"It was mentioned in the [Legends] that a hero will wield the powers of light and dark, to bring balance to the elements, restoring magic to the land you call Alfheim. Perhaps it is fate that brings our meeting on this floating castle." The wood-elf looked at the dark-elf.

"And if this is so, then our petty squabbles shall not nothing in the face of fate. Relay this to your people, dark-elf, as I will do to mine. 'The Concerto has begun.'" The dark-elf nodded silently, and the wood-elf raised his sword again.

"I shall be the first judge of your fate, human!" The glowing sword of the elf slashed mercilessly at Kirito, who parried the sword with his left. Sparks of light flew as the two blades of light collided, sending shockwaves that even the girls could feel.

Kirito dashed towards the right, and lowered his body taking a swing as his right blade went for the leg of the elf. This was blocked by the shield, leading the sword to stab into the ground. Releasing his grip from his right sword, Kirito reached into his coat, and threw a handful of picks at the elf while jumping back.

Holding his right shoulder, the wood-elf smile as he pulled out the picks that had hit him. "You are a versatile fighter, I must say I am impressed. Though if you should douse your picks in poison if you really wish to win in a war."

The elf charged at Kirito again, who returned his charge and aimed for his torso. Kirito's blade met the elf's, and the elf shield flew forward towards Kirito's face.

"What?!" Kirito arched backwards, barely avoiding the hit of the shield. Noting Kirito's loss of balance, the elf slammed the shield downwards on Kirito's chest, causing him to fall on the floor.

Hitting the ground, Kirito quickly rolled out the way, and got back up and grinned. "Never thought you'd use the shield to attack me there." Then charged back in with a [Sonic Leap], the elf blocked it with his shield and shifted backwards from the recoil.

Quickly glancing at his HP (80%), and his other sword that was stabbed into the mud, Kirito moved back and kept his distance, he switched his sword from his left hand to his right.

_As expected, this opponent is strong, I'll need to win through wits and skill_.

Repositioning himself so that the elf was standing close to his blade on the floor, Kirito charged forward, using a slant attack, he forced the elf to block with his round shield. He then dodges ad the elf stabbed forward at his left torso, grabbing the elf's wrist as he closed in.

Dropping his right sword, Kirito made a palm with his right hand, and activated the skill [Open Palm Strike], impacting elf's chest and sending him flying backwards. Quickly picking up both swords that were on the ground, Kirito charged in to follow up while the elf was in suffering the [Stun] status, and managed to land several slashes on the undefended enemy before it was able to successfully block.

"As expected of the one who will bear our fate, now behold the true strength of the elf race." The elf proclaimed, as Kirito glared at his HP bar which was now slightly below 50%. "The forbidden technique of magic, that has all but been lost in this land."

The elf tossed his 'round shield' on the ground, and held out his left hand.

"System call: WeaponEnhance Electric"

A ball of lightning appeared on the elf's left hand, which attached itself to his sword when he touched it. The elf held the sword with both hands, as he looked at Kirito.

"We have long lost the use of higher spells, but even with these lower incantations, we can still become deadly foes. Remember this when you face us." He charged with Kirito and slashed with both hands, Kirito blocking the blow with his crossed swords.

"System call: WeaponEnhance Discharge!" The elf yelled, and Kirito was jolted with a severe shock that numbed his arms. Letting go of both his blades, he quickly knelt downwards and jumped backwards, making some distance. Both his arms were numb, and the 'paralysis' status was flashing 5s.

"System call: WeaponEnhance Combust" Kirito noticed that the elf had thrown his picks back at him, and quickly ran. Small explosions could be seen as the picks contacted the floor.

_This is completely unfair! _Kirito complained inside, as he gripped his hands, finally rid of the paralysis effect.

Running towards the elf, Kirito fired two rounds of throwing picks, which allowed him to recover his blades while the elf dodged. He needed another clean hit to finish the match, but it would be hard, especially when his HP was also below the half-mark.

"System call: WeaponEnhance Flames" The elf charged Kirito, who once again charged with both blades drawn. Jumping into the air, he slashed at the elf, who blocked with his sword sideways.

"System call: WeaponEnhance Discharge!" Kirito pushed with both hands sending himself into midair, simultaneously throwing his [Holy Anneal Blade] into the ground and five picks at the elf who was too close to dodge.

"UGH!" The elf grimaced as he took a step back, seeking refuge behind the wall of fire he had created. He did not see Kirito land on his sword, using it as a springboard for his final strike.

"Haaa…" Jumping off his sword, Kirito launched himself horizontally through the wall of fire, his armor searing as he took the heat damage. He could see the elf's surprised expression as he charged through and dealt his final [Uppercut], shattering the elf's sword and sending his HP down to 5%.

"I concede" The wood-elf knelt down, submitting to his defeat, as Kirito took a potion out.

"No need" the dark elf said as she raised her hand. "System call: HealTarget", a warm green pillar engulfed Kirito as he watched his HP slowly regenerate.

"What is this 'system call' anyways? I never heard of it before." Kirito finally asked, he was unaware of any system like that in SAO, and even Kayaba promoted this game as a skill based game with no magic.

"I will explain." The wood-elf spoke "This system is a forbidden technique passed down in the generations, a incantation method for those who still possess the ability to manipulate magic. In the past magic was present everywhere, a common technology that was used by society. It is that same technology that allow this castle to float in the sky."

"However, a disaster occurred many generations ago, and most of the technology was lost. As that remains are the simple incantations that were passed down, and several artifacts." The wood-elf raised his arm, showing a bracelet that was emerald green and glowing. "This artifact is what we called a catalyst, which allows us to amplify our latent magic affinity and allows us to cast what you call spells."

"Unfortunately, most humans possess no magic affinity, and cannot use magic" The dark-elf took as step forward, "However, there are those who have a high magic affinity. Furthermore, there are also different grades of artifacts, so with the right combination it may be possible for you to use basic magic abilities"

"So how do we find out?" Lisbeth joined in the conversation with interest, as she and the other girls walked towards Kirito

"It's pretty simple. Just raise your left hand, and say 'System Call: List Available Commands'."

Kirito raised his hand in unison with the three girls, and chanted together.

"System Call: List Available Commands"

Immediately, a menu popped up in front of Kirito, he noted that he was only able to scroll the menu with his left hand. Looking at the list, it contained most of the common commands that he could access with his normal interface.

"So basically we can use it to quickly access our menu commands" Asuna concluded.

"It would make it much easier for use to get items from your inventories." Silica added.

Kirito remained silent as the elves continued.

"I do request that you and your party remain silent about this ability, as it is not given to any random person. Your being here likely made you part of the chosen fate, and our presence has likely triggered your sensitivity to magic. It is unlikely that others will be able to do the same." The dark-elf warned.

"So, basically, we completed the quest, and the 'System Call' command is the reward" Lisbeth concluded.

Both elves had a blank look on their face.

"Nevermind, it's nothing" Kirito followed up.

The elves nodded, then turned to each other.

"Now, according to the agreement, by right of the **Code**." The Dark Elf raised her sword, while the wood-elf knelt down.

"Vladm - leader of the 14th wood-elf sentry, I Kizmel,12th dark elf sentry, bind your status to a servant. System Call: SetTargetClass Servant" As she swing the sword down upon the wood-elf's head, the Dark-elf Kizmel's sword glowed a golden light.

"I submit to becoming a servant. System Call: Release Core Protection"

The golden light encompassed the wood-elf, condensing into a ring around his neck, a symbol of servitude.

Turning to Kirito and his group, Kizmel spoke to Kirito "I thank you for your assistance, with this I have safely secured the [1st secret key], as well as the information regarding the wood-elves operations."

"I am planning to return to camp now, and if possible I would like your assistance, if it is possible" A "?" sign appeared on top of her head.

"If it's OK with you…" Asuna answered

"…" Kirito stayed silent, wondering whether he should correct Asuna's reply. Normally NPC character, actually technically Kizmel is a mob, are unable to detect small nuances in speech patterns. As such, Asuna's reply would probably go into deaf's ears.

Just as Kirito was about to repeat Asuna's confirmation with "OK, let's go", an unexpected voice answered.

"Thank you" Kizmel responded, she and Vladm walked in front of group, while the girls followed, leaving a puzzled Kirito to chase after the group.

"By the way," Kirito interrupted "You mentioned there were many commands that were available under the incantation system. Can you explain the commands Oblivion and Genesis?"

At that instance, both elves opened their eyes wide in shock, as the sound of their weapons hit the ground.

"It cannot possibly be…" Kizmel uttered.

Author's Notes: Uh oh… I opened pandora's box


	32. The Magical Land of the Elves

**Floor 3 – The Magical Land of the Elves**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I am away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **OK, so here it is… Pandora's box has been opened… don't flame me if my plot lines suck ;)

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: November 24, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 16:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Misty Forest]

Kirito stood still awaiting the explanation for Kizmel's surprised reaction. He was expecting a tutorial-like explanation of his new skills, but instead she looked at him as if he was a monster.

"Human-sama." The wood-elf began to speak "How much to you know about magic in Alfheim? Or specifically the magic in this floating castle you call Aincrad?"

"Well, nothing actually, we were told that there was no magic. Also, please at least call me Kirito." Kirito answered, not knowing where the conversation was going.

"Yes Kirito-sama" Vladm replied humbly. "To begin, we elves classify magic into several types. Sorcery - a magic that can change the nature of an entire field, or even the entire world; Enchantments - a magic that alters the properties of objects; and Spellcraft – simple incantations that perform simple and relative weak functions."

"As you have seen, we are capable of simple enchantment magic, as well as basic enchantment magic, through the amplification through our equipment." Kizmel continued, "However, the two names you mentioned, according to folklore passed in the generations, are amongst the most powerful world-altering sorceries."

"WHA?!" Kirito gasped in surprise. He was surprised that he would suddenly obtain two extra skills that would potentially be **game-breaking.**

**_Great… and back then people thought I'm overpowered… guess this just dialed it to 11…_**

"We do not know that this will mean, but in any case if you come with me back to the Capital, we may be able to give you an answer. But first, I will need to return to my camp." Kizmel changed the topic.

As they progressed towards the dark-elf forward camp, Kirito couldn't help but be amazed at the elves' ability to navigate the forest and detect dangers. Not once did the group head in the wrong direction, nor did they get ambushed by the hidden Treant mobs. Furthermore, between Kizmel and Vladm, most mobs were dispatched before Kirito's group had the chance to attack. Within 15 minutes, the black dark-elf flag of the camp was within visual range.

"Impressive." Kirito commented quietly, as he observed the camp.

Entering the boundaries of the camp, two lines of Dark-elves stood in attention as Kizmel passed through. Each elf had similar equipment to Kizmel, though less decorated, and glared at their party with razor sharp eyes. The path was cleared of rubble, and paint similar to a rubber coating dyed the path black. At the end of a path, a narrow opening led to a valley, supposedly the main camp area.

"Kirito, don't think about challenging the guards here now.." Asuna said, seeing Kirito eye the equipment that the guards had.

"Or maybe he's just checking out the elves themselves." Lisbeth joked, easing the stiff atmosphere.

"Kururu." Pina made a nervous sound, likely because the guards were also looking at the dragon, and burrowed itself behind Silica's hair.

Arriving in the main camp area, Kizmel came to a halt.

"Please wait here, I will report to the commander." Kizmel then walked away, while Vladm sat down and assumed a meditation position.

"So what do we do now?" Lisbeth asked, neither Asuna nor Silica had a reply, while Kirito was busy staring around the area.

"It's bigger than before…" he commented while looking around.

"What do you mean bigger, the camp site you mean?" Asuna asked

"Yes, either they increased the camp size for the release, or that we got transported to a different instance dungeon." Kirito replied

"Instance what?" Asuna asked in confusion.

"Instance dungeon. Basically a map that is copied from a preset template, that is used when players engage in certain quests. As of this moment, we do not exist on the 3rd floor of Aincrad, but in a special space where the quest is to be completed." Kirito explained.

"So why would they make a special dungeon for us?" Lisbeth interrupted, unsure of where Kirito was getting at.

"This is to facilitate the different outcomes of the previous quest choice. I suppose there would be 4 possible outcomes, actually they would be 8… in each scenario, the players would enter the 'forward camp' map to continue the quest, but each group of players would not meet each other as a different instance was played."

"So Kirito-san, does that mean that if another group decided to help the wood-elf, they would end up in a different map than us?" Silica asked, petting her familiar lightly as she spoke.

"Not just that, every single party that triggered the quest would have a different map, or even different mobs that accompany them. So maybe if Klein's group took the quest they might be fighting a male dark-elf named Kimmer, while helping a blonde female wood-elf Vlana…"

"Sound just like Klein, always going for the females." Lisbeth joked.

"So in short, we're stuck on this map until the quest is done?" Asuna asked.

"Not exactly, but until we leave this map we are the only players that should be able to come here." Kirito concluded. At the same time Kizmel returned to the group.

"I have spoke to our commander , and she has granted permission for your stay. Furthermore we would like to have your assistance tomorrow dealing with a certain group of spiders. But first..." Kismel took a bag that was embroiled with gold stitching, and took out several items. There were earrings that had a bluish tint, black rings that had a crimson glow, several healing crystals, as well as a deep blue teleportation corridor crystal.

"Our commander wishes to thank you for your troubles, please choose one item for each one of you." Kizmel announced as she watched the group look with dazzled eyes.

"Those earrings look really pretty!" Silica's voice was a few degrees higher, unable to hide her excitement.

"Hey Kirito, do you know what the equipment does?" Lisbeth asked, meanwhile Asuna remained silent.

"Hmm… Kizmel, are there any magic catalysts that we can obtain?" Kirito suddenly asked, and Kizmel looked at him in surprise.

"We had expected such a question, and unfortunately we are prohibited from providing humans with catalysts. Besides, most humans do not possess any magic potential so even with a catalyst, humans are unable to use magic." Kizmel replied.

Kirito nodded, expecting the answer, but he did not expect Kizmel to continue.

"However, we believe that a magic catalyst is not necessary for you, as you already possess quite an affinity for magic. One you finish choosing your item, my commander would like to see you."

Kirito blinked his eyes in surprise, as he picked the teleportation corridor crystal. Lisbeth chose the ring which apparently gave her a STR+1 skill modifier, while Asuna and Silica chose the AGI+1 earrings.

"Curious, I was expecting you to choose the ring, no matter, follow me please." Kizmel spoke. Kirito smiled as he knew that the value of corridor crystals was much higher than that of low-level equipment.

Kizmel led the group to the main tent in the camp, and turned around.

"The leader is waiting inside, and Kirito, please command Vladm to remain outside."

"Huh? Why is that?" Kirito asked in surprise.

"Because Vladm is **your **servant, and will remain by your side unless you command him to do otherwise." Kizmel gave an as-a-matter-of-fact reply.

"WHAT?!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Coming out of the main tent, Kirito could not feel overwhelmed and exhausted. The leader was grateful of Kirito's help, and further rewarded the group with col and many items. At the same time she requested Kirito's group help with a growing spider infestation issue in the area north-east of the camp grounds. However, what perplexed Kirito the most was the changes he had experienced compared to the beta.

"Unfortunately, I am unable to provide you any more information, since none of our records date back to the age where sorcery was actively used. However, there is one thing that is certain, if a command is in the list of available commands, then it can be used." The leader, Krusa, confirmed the one thing that Kirito wanted to know, and in response he raised his hand in the gesture of spell-casting.

"STOP! If you cast sorcery here who knows what might happen?" Kizmel shouted, to which Krusa motioned her to stop.

"Let him, I believe it will be fine." The leader quietly commanded.

Kirito looked at Krusa, who nodded, and as he faced an empty space in the tent, he chanted "System call – Oblivion"

Everyone in the tent held their breath for a short moment, but nothing happened.

"System call – Genesis." The same happened – nothing.

Krusa nodded, and spoke "As expected, there are certain requirements that are needed to activate the sorcery. Kirito-san, please hold this scepter."

The scepter had many indistinguishable markings, and was delicately carved, in the middle there was a transparent 'eye' – a translucent orb that emitted a bright blue glow. Kirito held the scepter that was passed to him, which instantly glowed a blinding light that fluctuated between pure black and white.

"Impossible" Kizmel exclaimed, as even Krusa opened her eyes with disbelief. Kirito let go of the scepter and handed it back to Krusa, and the 'eye' returned to a bright blue glow.

"I must say I am amazed, to see a human with a magic affinity that probably matches the highest wizard in our ranks, and yet the powers or light and dark." Krusa said "Do you happen to possess any rare artifacts that are out of the ordinary?"

Kirito's mind clicked, and drew out his two blades. Krusa examined them carefully, and nodded knowingly. "I understand now, so it is the [orb] inside your blades that provide you with magic. Take care of these artifacts as a single one can cause great harm and destruction."

Returning to her seat, Krusa continued.

"And this confirms that 'something' is missing, preventing you from using the sorcery. I suspect that fate will one day draw you to find this 'something', just as it has drawn you to us."

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"So in the end, we only unraveled more puzzles, and no extra pieces to complete it with." Kirito exclaimed in disappointment.

"And here I was, hoping that Kirito-kun would learn a skill that could help us clear the game easily." Asuna sighed.

"Well... I don't exactly want to have anything else that makes me feel like I've cheated the game... even though I suppose I already am the representative of broken-characters..." Kirito continued

"Yup, we've once again reaffirmed that the Kirito here is as abnormal as we thought he was." Lisbeth joked.

"Lisbeth-san, that's not nice, Kirito-san might be a little weird, but he's done nothing but help us." Silica defended Kirito.

"haha… I don't know if I should be glad about that or not." Kirito sighed, though the little conversation did relieve his stress.

"Well, not like it matters too much. As long as it helps clear the game, I'll be the weirdest player in SAO if I need to be."

Kizmel looked at the group of players as she led them to the resting area, all the while having a small smile on her face.

"Once again, I thank you for helping us. Now, if you would like to rest, we have prepared a place for you to stay, we can provide a place to sleep, adequate food, as well as a basic bath. Alternatively I can also teleport you ba…." Kizmel was cut short when Asuna grabbed her hand.

"We'll stay, where is the bath?" Asuna demanded quickly, not even giving Kirito a chance to question her reply.

"I understand, in that case, please come this way." Kizmel motioned Asuna to follow her, as well as the rest of the group.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As they arrived at the bath, Kirito observed the entrance – only one door led to the bathing area.

"Inside there is a small changing area, and through the doors in the far side, you can reach the hot springs. You need not worry about safety, as the three walls surrounding the hot spring is protected by sorcery from the ancient era." Kizmel introduced the bath. "Once you are done you can return to the resting area, and I will show you your sleeping area."

Kirito looked at the entrance, then the girls, then sighed.

"We'll leave then come back in 1 hour?" Kirito suggested, he expected a simple confirmation, but luck did not favor him as such.

"Kirito-kun, this is considered an [Outside Area] right?" Asuna asked.

"Yes it is." Kirito answered, puzzled at its significance.

"So that means it's possible to die here right? Will you be able to sleep if all three of us got killed while in the bath?"

"DEFINITELY NOT!... sorry.. I mean… no, I wouldn't. But what do you want me to do? Stand guard in the springs with my eyes closed?" Kirito calmed back down.

"Well, we'd be really grateful if you could stand outside the changing room and guarded us. We promise we'll be fast OK?" Asuna pleaded, using a alluring voice that Kirito never heard before.

"Well… Okay… Vladm and I will stand guard." Kirito resigned.

"Thank you Kirito-kun." Asuna thanked Kirito, behind her mumbles of "You sly girl", and "Asuna sugoi" were heard.

As the girls walked in, Asuna turned around once again and looked Kirito in the eyes.

"Just to make sure Kirito-kun, this IS an [OUTSIDE AREA] right?" Asuna asked, this time lifting her sword an inch out of its scabbard.

"Yes, it is, so don't worry, I'll stay HERE and guard the room" Kirito gulped, as the girls disappeared behind the door.

"Kirito-sama, are you feeling alright?" Vladm asked.

"Yes I am, for now at least…" Kirito answered weakly.

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Sweat formed on Kirito's forehead, as the 30th minute passed by on his guard watch. Vladm had assumed a mediation position while standing, remaining in perfect silence, while Kirito was on the verge of breakdown.

Behind him, the sounds of 3 girls frolicking in the bath echoed through the doors.

"Ahhh… the water feels so comfortable, it feels like I've been reborn."

"The water still feels weird to be honest, it sort of tingles, especially my back."

"Silica-chan has such a soft back, makes me envious."

"Kyaaa! Lisbeth-san, what are you doing?"

"Ahhh… Just as I thought, a hot water bath is the best."

"Listen to you sounding like an old hag Asuna."

"But Asuna-san has such good proportions; I wish could be more like you."

"Silica-chan still has chance to grow, so don't worry. On the other hand… sorry Liz"

"What does that mean! Now I'm mad, take this"

"Kyaa! Where are you touching?"

"I'm going to see if some of the good proportions can rub off onto me!"

"Waaa… Lisbeth-san, Asuna-san!"

"So I'm stuck between heaven and hell AGAIN!" Kirito grumbled to himself, beside him Vladm stood motionless.

"Hey Vladm." Kirito attempted to strike a conversation with Vladm, but no answer was given.

"HEY Vladm"…. Kirito turned to Vladm, and gave him a light tap.

*CRASH* Vladm fell to the floor, cracked into several pieces, then vanished into polygons.

"!" Kirito exclaimed

"ARE YOU GIRLS ALRIGHT?" Kirito asked?

"Kirito-kun? What's wrong? I heard a loud crash… KYAA!"

Kirito charged into the empty changing room, quickly equipping one sword, he would initiate the sword skill the moment he passed through the door and…

"Huh?" Kirito froze as he entered the bath, dropping his sword as the activation glow faded from his [Anneal Blade]

Even if this was a virtual game, the scene Kirito witnessed was still probably too early for his age, and unfortunately he might not live to the age where he could legitimately relive this scene.

"Uh… Vladm just fell and, cracked and, smashed and, disappeared, and I thought that there was danger, and …"

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"ARGH!" a distant male voice echoed in the distance.

Sitting in the resting area, Kizmel and Vladm were eating their army rations around a bonfire.

"Why didn't you accompany your master?" Kizmel asked.

"I already examined the entire area, your security is perfect, there is no chance that someone would be able to kill my master here. I sensed that the female humans were not comfortable with my presence, so I came out after creating a golem decoy." Vladm responded cooly.

"You know your master is probably dying right now?" Kizmel remarked

"He will be fine, I cast a temporary stone enchantment on his armor as well, so he should be fine. Besides, the fated person who was able to survive [Fatal Light] – the ultimate elven technique, would not die to anything easily." Vladm replied, as he took a bite out of his preserved food.

"STOP! I'M DYING!" Kirito's voice wailed loudly.

"Maybe I should check up on him after all." Vladm muttered, as he finished the last bites of his food.

**Author Notes:** Well.. the ultimate OP pimp needs to carve his road to happiness right?


	33. Much Ado about Nothing

**Floor 3 – Much ado about Nothing **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: I am away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Little more fluff while I figure out which direction I want to go.

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: November 24, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 22:00]

Location: [3rd Floor Instance Dungeon – Dark-Elf Forward Camp]

Kirito sat in the hot water bath, gently massaging his limbs to subside the pain he had endured earlier. Despite the pain reduction system in SAO, Kirito felt as if he was brought to an inch of his death.

"I never knew I could ache so badly…" Kirito muttered, holding his aching arm.

"Well, you did ALMOST get killed there." Vladm sat beside Kirito, as composed as always.

"I never thought [Battle Healing] could come in handy in that situation…" Kirito commented self-loathingly.

"I must admit, it was pretty unnecessary for them to resort to violence as such. I could never understand why humans refuse to bathe with the opposite gender." Vladm pondered, as Kirito looked at him as if he was an alien, well technically he was.

"I agree, I don't recall any time in elven history that we felt the necessity of wasting resources for such trivial matters." Kizmel's voice affirmed Vladm's comment, as Kirito jumped up instinctively.

"Kizmel-san? Why are you?" Kirito studdered, as he quickly turned around to face the wall.

"What's wrong Kirito? Are you OK?" Kizmel asked, "We need to make sure you are at the best of condition tomorrow. System call: Heal!"

Kirito felt the green column refreshing his body, and soothing his wounds, but right now he had other concerns.

"Kismel-san, why did you not bathe with the girls?" Kirito asked nervously.

"Oh, I didn't have time, besides we needed to check on your condition after you got injured." Kizmel replied, not a trace of wavering in her voice.

"Kirito-sama, when you are in battle, trivialities such as clothing pose no concern. If one is not armored properly, then there is no difference from being naked, as a matter of fact being naked might provide more mobility." Vladm criticized Kirito, who sunk into the water while bubbles emerged from the surface.

"Anyways, my job here is done. Kirito-san, when you are done please meet me at the resting area." Kizmel got up and walked into the room, Kirito sighing a breath of relief after the door had closed.

"Being a human must be quite hard." Vladm noted, as Kirito pulled his hair in frustration.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx

"I apologize for my room being a little small, but just for the day please forgive our inability to provide proper hospitalities." Kizmel apologized as she showed Kirito the tent that she used.

"It's OK, since it'll only be us four sleeping in it." Asuna smile at Kizmel, then turned her glaze towards Kirito, her glare suddenly becoming ice cold.

"Uh… I'll be sleeping outside today, so have a good night's sleep" Kirito volunteered quickly, realizing that he was still in the 'red zone'

"Are you sure Kirito? We've all had quite a bit a skin-ship already, so if you'd like you can also sleep in the tent…. Forever." Lisbeth joked, but Kirito saw that there was a killing intent in her eyes… she was definitely not smiling kindly inside.

"Uh… Since I can only become Kirito-san's bride now after that incident, if Kirito insists on sleeping here I'll obey… but… I can't… I still need time to prepare mentally…." Silica face was still red from remembering the events.

"Silica-chan, don't get swayed by that hentai-kun, we're going to have to teach you a few things about despicable perverts such as that slime over there." Lisbeth patted Silica's shoulder, and led her into the tent.

"Now, if you even come within 5m of the tent, you'll regret you didn't die on the first day!" Asuna lashed out at Kirito as she went into Kizmel's tent. Kizmel shrugged her shoulders with the "nothing I can do" expression, and closed the tent.

"Well, Kirito-sama, it's going to be a long night, so sleep well. Oh, just ignore the noises from the monsters, this place is usually fine unless the vultures fly by." Vladm sat down, assumed his meditation pose, then quickly 'fell asleep'.

"… " Kirito sighed

_HOW DID IT TURN OUT THIS WAY! _Inside his mind, Kirito's sanity was definitely fading.

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**[Date: November 26, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 12:00]

Location: [3rd Floor - Misty Forest]

Purging the spiders were easier than Kirito thought, or maybe it was because it kept him distracted. Before he knew it, he had completed the [Eradication of Infectious Spiders] quest, and had collected the quest reward from Krusa.

They would be contacted by the elves later if any help was needed, and Vladm left to return to the wood-elves and inform them of his servitude to Kirito. Now that the quest was done for the level Kirito's group returned to their daily job of clearing the level, apart from one little problem.

"HMPH!" Asuna ignored Kirito's pleas to let him rejoin the party. Kirito was kicked out the party due to the events two days ago. Despite his apologies and most sincere efforts, he was not allowed back in. As a result, he ended up having to complete the spider's quest alone yesterday.

"I promise that I'll never allow the same thing to happen again, so please? Asuna? Lisbeth? Silica?" Kirito begged for the forgiveness of his companions to no avail. Before he knew it the group had already reached the clearing.

Kirito lost all hope as suddenly a party invitation popped up, he quickly clicked accept as fast as his AGI stat allowed, his hand covered in the afterglow of a sword skill.

"THANK YOU! I'm sorry, I'll never do something like that again!" Kirito never knew his pride could stoop so low, we was ready to beg on all fours to get back in the party.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not like I've forgiven you or anything, just that I don't want you thinking that we're abusing you even though you've helped us throughout, saved us countless times, and is basically the reason that we're here right now" Asuna said in a vanishing voice, while Lisbeth smirked and Silica giggled in the distance.

Quickly allocating the party item split, Asuna confirmed the menus, and disbanded the party again.

"Huh!" Kirito gasped in surprise, worried that he did something to anger the chestnut-haired beauty.

"We're heading into town, so there's obviously no need to party anymore right? Let's go Lisbeth, Silica-chan!" Asuna turned around and walked towards the town, making sure Kirito didn't see her stick her tongue out as she smiled.

Slumping his shoulders, Kirito followed the group into the town.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx

"Kii-bou! Asuna-chan, Liz, and Silica-chan, where'd you all go?" Argo was the first to greet them as they entered town.

"You've been missing on the map forever, and your PM was set to unavailable. I was seriously worried for a while… you went on the 'quest' right?" Argo astute pointed out.

"Uh… yeah… I guess nothing escapes you does it.." Kirito was once again amazed by Argo's information gathering and deductive ability.

"Well, I'll need help with this mystery. Apparently some blond elf-like girl's appeared in the low levels, and she's generated quite the stir. Rumors have it that she single-handedly took out the [Angry Bull], without having to consume a single potion." Argo continued.

"No way!" Barked Kirito, he had fought the same bull with the help of an unknown ally, and knew how difficult it was to solo the field boss. There was also no need to fight the field boss to complete the [Cow's Counterattack] quest, so the only reason to do so was for the items and experience. Unfortunately, the [The Angry Bull] did not drop rare useful items, and its only rare drop [Bullish Shield] has a high strength requirement that really limited the amount of players that could use it.

In the case of experience, boss mobs have a severe experience penalty slope as the players get higher in levels, so it only made sense that a player hit the boss when the boss is the same level or higher. In that case, the player must have been an elite beta tester, or a gifted player that didn't leave [Starting City] until later on. Either scenario seemed unlikely though.

"So you agree as well Kii-bou, it doesn't make sense that a player like that would not be on the front lines?" Argo asked for Kirito's confirmation, although she had a pretty good idea she was right.

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense, unless there is something that we are unaware of at work." Kirito nodded.

"Well, that settles it, guess we'll leave it at 'mystery player kills elite field boss, you can do it too!' then…. I can use this chance to promote your boss-farming guide… and then maybe bundle it with other stuff." Argo chuckled, as Kirito turned to her.

"I thought you weren't selling it for profit?" Kirito queried.

"I'm not, but the guide isn't all the information that I have." Argo grinned, sending a shiver down Kirito's spine. "By the way Kii-bou, you'd better get yourself in gear or you'll fall behind in levels."

Kirito grumbled, as he knew it would happen eventually. Even during the closed beta he was unable to keep pace with his leveling speed during the time he was working on the quest. He remembered the grueling 24-hour grinds that he spent afterwards to make up the lost time.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Liz, I have the information you need." Argo turned to Lisbeth, who jumped in surprise.

"Really?! That's great, let's find somewhere to sit down and talk about it." Lisbeth exicitedly grabbed Argo's hand, and pulled her off down the alley towards the restaurants.

"Well, guess it's lunch time. Bye bye, Hentai-kun" Asuna stretched her arms as she motioned Silica to follow her.

"Eh? Where are you guys going? Are you guys abandoning me?" Kirito looked at Asuna who began to walk away, then at Silica who had a panicky expression.

"Uwauwa… uh… Kirito-san I think I'm going to eat too with Asuna-san but if Kirito-san wants to eat with me I'd be glad to but Asuna-san told me not to eat with you alone and Lisbeth told me that if I end up with you it would be dangerous but I want to eat with you but if we were alone you might do something and… Kyaa! _Gomennasai!_" Silica ran with a flushed expression, her face steaming red as she ran past Asuna and disappeared down the streets.

_Guess I've become disliked… orz…. _

Kirito sighed and turned around, deciding to postpone his lunch plans to avoid bumping into the girls. Walking down the streets, he noticed that the atmosphere had calmed down, and that the streets were full of people that looked as if they were visiting from [Starting City]. Smiling as he realized that many players have started their journey, Kirito walked towards the main square.

"Kirito, is that you?" The friendly voice of a certain-red-haired bandit caught Kirito's attention, as he turned around and faced his first friend.

"How's it going Klein?" Kirito greeted the man who came running up.

"Not bad, not bad. Been working hard to get the guild set up and all, then catching up with leveling and stuff. So, what do you think?" Klein enthusiastically pointed to his head, which Kirito noticed had a guild icon beside his cursor.

"Looking good, I'm glad you guys pulled it through so quickly. The road's long, so make your guild [Fuurinkazan] famous." Kirito smiled as he congratulated his friend, glad that he decided not to abandon him on the first day of the deathgame.

"You bet we will. Our guild's doing pretty well, you know. Once we upgrade our equipment, we'll almost be as good as you guys. This reminds me… WHERE ARE THE LOVELY LADIES?" Klein exaggerated expressions usually amused Kirito, but this time he just felt uneasy.

"Well.. long story… let's say there was a mishap…" Kirito mumbled.

"Hehh… so the harem master-to-be finally slips up? What'd you do? Walk in on the girls on the bath? Or did you push someone over?" Klein grinned as he observed Kirito's expression.

"Shut up…" Kirito turned his head away to hide his embarrassment.. "It was an incident…"

"HAHAHA! Just like classic manga event…" Klein started laughing uncontrollably. "Man Kirito, I've got to give it to you... you're too good…."

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"Well, I've got to give it to you; you bump into the weirdest things." Klein said, sipping his cup of coffee.

"Tell me about it" Kirito sighed as he downed his cup of tea, as if his life wasn't flipped around enough as it is.

"In any case, you'll need to let them calm down for a while. It's especially hard dealing with girls at this age, not to mention the circumstances we're in, being a game-of-death and all. Just make sure you apologize sincerely later on, I doubt they'll be mad at you after a while." Klein reassured Kirito.

"So, now that you've been dumped, how about you join your brother and pay a visit to [Starting City]. I hear that there's a rumor going on about a super-skilled player…"

"You mean the blonde elf-like girl that defeated [The Angry Bull]? You're ears are as sharp as Argo's" Kirito looked at Klein suspiciously.

"Well, it's not every day that see a drop-dead gorgeous player that's super-skilled around. Apart from a certain lucky individual that hogs the attention of the top 3 female players in the game…" Klein glared at Kirito, who coughed and tried to change the topic.

"Well, it's worth investigating, so I don't mind tagging along. It would be nice to check up on the [Aincrad Liberation Force] as well, see how they are getting set up. Do you know who's in charge right now? Last I heard Diabel stepped down before they formed the guild."

"Last I heard he entrusted the formation to a guy named Thinker, who had some experience organizing a small company or something like that. That extremist Kibaou wasn't too happy though, so Diabel's acting as a middleman to keep things in check. Honestly I can see things getting complicated in the next floor boss battle, with their conflict with DDA and all." Klein shrugged his shoulders, as he told Kirito about the recent developments.

"All the better to check it out then. You ready Klein?" Kirito said as he approached the teleport gate, Klein nodded in return.

"Teleport, [Starting City]!"


	34. Kayaba Side - Unexpected Updates

**Kayaba Side – Unexpected Updates**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: Luckily, it seems that my internet's quite stable… so hopefully I'm going to be able to write. My stockpile of reserve chapters is running low though, so still no guarantee that I'll be able to uphold my release schedule. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Time for a little more exposition… I promise it'll be short.

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: November 25, 2022]**

Japan Standard Time: [22:00]

Location: [Unknown]

Sitting at his desk, Akihiko Kayaba was typing non-stop on his keyboard, behind him, the assistant entered holding two cups and a mug of coffee

"Rinko ga?" Kayaba asked the obvious, since there was nobody other than the two that knew of this location.

"Akihiko, when will you stop this habit, you know it's me." Rinko poured Kayaba a cup of coffee, then sat down in a chair beside him. "Still no progress with locating the nature of the anomaly?"

"Unfortunately, no…. it seems to be a program that is able to constantly evolve itself, fending off any and every method I try to approach it with. I suspect that a portion of the Cardinal code must have caused this variance, and I must say that it is very interesting." Kayaba turned around, and took off his glasses.

"Well that is surprising, to see you being outmatched in the world you created." Rinko commented, taking a sip of the coffee.

"You don't have to be modest, this anomaly was merely a side-effects of your efforts, and you got me good there. I only suspected that you changed minor details of the game, but to think that you were able to completely alter the course of the game through a few lines of code and some careful convincing…" Kayaba complimented Rinko, as he added some sugar into the coffee.

"I still have no idea what killed me inside the game though, at first I thought it was you, but it looks like it has something to do with the anomaly. Apparently your GM access has also been limited beyond what I originally intended as well, it even bypassed your backup coding."

"Yes, and honestly that is a little problematic, at this point there is no way we can prevent a complete breakdown if something like that should occur. Though I suppose if it was to happen, then it was fated for our players to bear the fate of the results." Kayaba took a sip of his coffee, then added another bag of sugar.

"Also, I have sent a second Medicuboid unit to Dr. Kurahashi, it almost seems like an odd twist of fate that the first user of the Medicuboid would be none other than _his_ sister. I feel guilty knowing that I was the one who made it possible to access the SAO server using the Medicuboid system." Rinko sighed as she recalled the events.

"There is always a cause, which leads to the reaction. We are merely links in the grand scheme of causality. At this point, there is little we can do, but to watch things unfold, and guide the paths towards the ones we desire." Kayaba spoke in riddles, as Rinko watched him put on his glasses again and continue typing.

"Fortunately or not, by allowing the system to take new accounts, you have allowed users of the Medicuboid system to potentially access SAO. On the other side, I specifically coded the program to ban all NERVEGEAR addresses, which included the inferior hardware that is being developed as AMUsphere. While I prevented Kazuto-kun's sister from entering the game, leading to her injury. You allowed her to enter the game using the superior Medicuboid, granting her original intention." Kayaba explained without looking up from his keyboard. Rinko sensed he was trying to lessen her guilt, but knew that her guilt would never fade away.

"The only problem now it to prevent excessive access from outside sources, though I am fully confident that present technology has no chance at compromising my system. Though currently, only the other Medicuboid has the potential to access the system, being a superior system to the NERVEGEAR. That being said, I would like to prevent excessive strain on the servers though, since the Cardinal system is slightly at flux."

"What do you mean at flux?"

"It would seem that Cardinal has made several abnormal changes to the game, which has significantly altered the details of several levels. I must say it will be an interesting, though slightly sickening twist. It will no doubt present the players with quite a surprise soon, but I'm sure that they will manage to overcome the problems."

"What problem is it that you speak of?" Rinko put down her coffee, and stared at Kayaba's screen, her curiousity getting the better of her.

"Well, the first problem is due to a seed that you planted. Thanks to your gift to Kazuto-kun, he can potentially teleport to floor 9 if he meets the right conditions. I suspect that is also the cause of the second problem." Kayaba brought up a list of changes that were recently made.

"WHAT?! Access to the boss rooms has been disabled from Floors 3 to 9?" Rinko spoke out in surprise.

"It would seem so. This change occurred the moment Kirito was given access to the 'verbal access' system. Which potentially allowed him to use the 'teleport' command. Though limited to certain conditions, he could potentially activate the town on the 9th floor. As a result, the criteria for clearing floors 3 to 9 have changed, and Cardinal seems to have incorporated the boss rooms into several quests."

Rinko stood in silence, carefully observing the modified quest data.

"So at this point, the [Quest of the Elves] optional quest has become mandatory to clear each of the floors from 3 to 8, which subsequently unlocks the boss room of the 9th floor. Only then will the players be allowed to venture into the next stage. An interesting change indeed."

All of a sudden, the lights in the room flickered, and then all the lights went out apart from Kayaba's laptop.

[Intrusion detected, servers 1 to 5, backup server functional, anti-intrusion suite online…. Engaging ECW and recovering]

"It looks like our vacation is over…. Rinko, are you ready?" Kayaba got up, and calmly unplugged his laptop.

"Yes, I'm ready to go" Rinko replied.

"Well, it'll be a while until we can get back in the game. I wish the players good luck." Kayaba smiled as he left the room with Rinko. Behind him, a small package with a timer began to tick… "10:00… 9:59…"


	35. The Pursuit & Being Persued

**Floor 3 - The Pursuit; & Being Pursued**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: Luckily, it seems that my internet's quite stable… so hopefully I'm going to be able to write. My stockpile of reserve chapters is running low though, so still no guarantee that I'll be able to uphold my release schedule. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Time to revisit a few old 'friends' maybe a few new ones?

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: November 26, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 13:00]

Location: [Starting City]

Kirito and Klein stepped out of the portal, as their scenery stabilizes after the warp-effect.

"Welcome back to [Starting City]! I hope your trip was enjo…. Eh? Kirito-kun!" A seemingly familiar voice entered Kirito's ears.

Kirito waved as he quickly tried to recollect who the girl was – Slighter shorter than him, sleeveless loose pink top, light-pink short-skirt, cute looks, nice figure, short hair, bubbly cheerful voice…

"uh… hi?" Kirito greeted the girl with a puzzled expression.

"Let me guess, you forgot who I was?" The girl pouted, as she stood in front of Kirito with her hands on her waist. "… and to think I gave you my first kiss…"

"Mika-san?!" Kirito exclaimed in shock. "But your hair, and your skirt, your bub…"

"Kirito-kun, are you saying that it's better that I'm gloomy and sad?" Mika glared at him accusingly.

"No… I was just saying you look different. I mean, you look really good in your new outfit." Kirito blurted out.

"Haiii…. Stop! Anymore and your friend here will be mad... uh… hello?" Mika looked at Klein, who had a petrified expression on his face. Kirito turned to Klein.

"Uh Klein? Earth to Klein?" Kirito poked his friend, who suddenly jumped?

"Yes?!"

"Welcome back to [Starting City]! I'm Mika, Kirito's friend, nice to meet you?"

"!? Ah! I'm Klein, bachelor, 21, single, nice to meet you too." Klein bowed 90 degrees, and held his hand out. Mika shook the hand as she giggled.

"Hehe… There's never a dull moment around Kirito-kun is there? Give me a moment, I'm going to take get a break from work." Mika said as she jogged to a stall near the town portal.

"Kirito, mind telling me what this is about?" Klein looked at Kirito suspiciously.

"Uh… long story… how much did you hear by the way?" Kirito studdered.

"Enough to get you slain several times by the girls, unless you treat me to lunch and a good beer afterwards." Klein said.

"DEAL! Plus I'll treat you to pizza in real life." Kirito responded at the speed of sound.

By this time, Mika had returned from the stall, and the three walked to a small diners down the street.

"Never thought I'd bump into you the first thing moment I come out of the portal, I see you've joined a guild also? How have things been?" Kirito spoke to Mika once they sat down.

"Well, after you told me about the 'Cow' quest, I got together with a few members of our previous party, and joined up with another group to farm the cows. It didn't take long for us to become known in the area, and somehow we started something like a farming group." Mika replied, as she picked her lunch.

"Soon after, one of our members decided to work at this diners, and started making crème desserts and cakes for the diner, and it turned out to be our base of operations. Nowadays, we take turns farming cows, working here at the diners, and greeting players that come through the portal. It's getting pretty busy nowadays, and most of us are starting to get used to life here. We ended up forming a guild, and now our main job is to ensure that people coming to [Starting City] at least have enjoyable food, and a chance of venturing out when we decide on farming runs."

"Wow, that's quite an achievement. I'm guessing that's why I didn't recognize you, your uniform is quite a contrast to the armor that you wore, not to mention your short hair." Kirito commented, noting that her new look gives a much more energetic impression.

"And who should I blame for that?" Mika leaned forward, her face inches from Kirito's "Wasn't this all because a certain cold-hearted fellow decided to abandon me here while he continued on the front lines, despite my desperate pleas and tears? You know a girl doesn't cut their hair unless something big happens in their life right?"

Kirito held his breath, as sweat-drops formed on his head, his fingers were nervously twitching, and he didn't know where to look, partially due to the fact that Mika's choice of revealing clothing was very attractive, and partially due to her accusations.

"Uh…" Kirito didn't know what to say, as usual, as the sweet fragrance in his nose tickled his sensations.

Mika looked at Kirito's embarrassed face, and started chuckling.

"Hahahaha… it's so fun teasing you.. the same old lovable Kirito-kun." Mika was struggling to breath while laughing.

"Sorry that I'm the same old me." Kirito protested, as Klein shook his head.

"Man, I don't know if I should be jealous of you, or feel bad for you… heck I should feel bad for myself!" Klein muttered in frustration.

"Anyways, enough of myself for now. There must be a reason that you two are coming back here from the front lines. Oh, I almost forgot, congratulations on defeating the 2nd floor boss!"

"Oh, thanks. Well…. It's sort of a long story, but in short we're trying to find out about the rumor about a blonde female player that defeated [The Angry Bull] by herself. Come to think of it, it's almost a miracle that we bumped into you, since it's likely that you would know the most about this rumor." Kirito began.

"And before Kirito digs his grave further, he's looking for the player because the front lines could use another advanced player to assist in the clearing, and not because Kirito's aiming to extend his claws to another innocent female." Klein added, to which Kirito glared at his friend.

"Ah I see, it would be something that Kirito-kun would do… I wonder about his motivation though. ("hey!") I'm joking!..." Mika stopped, and took a sip of the café latté she ordered. "Well, you are correct, our group was actually the first to witness the blonde player."

Kirito and Klein sat up, and paid attention Mika while she continued.

"Three of my guild-mates were going through the quest, as I'm level 10 and over-leveled, and suddenly the [Bull] popped in the field. Obeying the advice that you passed down, they retreated from the main field, farming the remote cows while waiting for the boss to leave. Around 15 minutes in, they spotted the blonde swordswoman, who engaged in a fight with the [Bull], and around 30 minutes she defeated the [Bull]"

Klein looked at Kirito, who nodded.

"Apparently the girl did not respond when my guild-mates called out to her, but rather disappeared into the forest. They described her as a well toned beauty, who wore leather armor and wielded a long sword without a shield, reminds you of anyone?" Mika said as she glanced at Kirito.

"Hmm… do you happen to know how she wielded her sword?" Kirito asked, while trying to imagine the battle in his head.

"Now that you think of it, my guild-mate said that the player had a beautiful form, as if she was gracefully dueling the bull, luring it to charge while she dodged sideways. She was noted to use both hands often, delivering most of her blows with an overhead strike." Mika said, as she lifted her hands together and pretended to hit Kirito on the head.

"_Men_…" Kirito mumbled_... _as he realized the likely background of the warrior in question. It was likely that the swordswomen was a kendo practitioner, and probably one of first-class ability.

_I wonder if this player would know Sugu? Maybe she could even be her mentor or someone who was in her doujo._

"Kirito?" Klein gazed at Kirito, while he chewed on his [Savory Steak].

"Unfortunately, that's all that we know about the mysterious swordswoman. Pretty much everything's been passed along to the information brokers anyways, so that's about it." Mika finished, as she cut a piece of shortcake, holding it with her fork, she lifted the cake to Kirito's mouth.

"Kirito-kun, try this cake… say 'ah' " Mika smiled as she watched Kirito zone out.

"Oh.. ah… ?" Kirito's ate the cake before he returned to reality. "…the cake's really good. Huh?" Finally realizing that it was Mika's cake, Kirito froze.

"Glad you like it… and with this…" Mika said, as she cut another piece, and placed it in her mouth. "My first indirect kiss with Kirito-kun! *wink*"

Kirito's face went red, as he didn't know what to say, he looked at Klein, for some odd reason had left the table without him noticing.

"Uh… Mika-san.." Kirito stopped to see Mika point her finger at him.

"First, please call me Mika from now on, OK? Kirito?" Mika stopped Kirito from speaking, "and Second, my feeling are my own, so don't worry about it. One day I'll find someone better, I promise, but until then I'll be thinking of you."

" So whenever you feel like it, think of me while you're fighting the floor bosses, and remember that are grateful for what you are doing. There will always be people that will look forward to your triumphant return from your battles, whether they are fighting alongside with you, or waiting here to greet you as you come and visit"

Kirito sat silently, watching as Mika got up and whispered in his ear before leaving "mata ne"

_No sayonara's this time_ _right?_ Kirito thought as he smiled.

"AHEM" Klein's cough brought Kirito back to his reality.

"Kirito, sometimes even I feel the need to put a bounty on your head…." Klein confessed.

"…"

"In any case, we've got a few leads. So what do we say we start looking?" Klein changed the topic, noting Kirito's expression.

"Uh… yeah sure… but first let's head to the [Black Palace], there's something I want to do."

"Better not involve another cute girl…" Klein complained.

"Don't worry, I'm heading to pay the Aincrad Liberation Force a visit." Kirito replied, a stern expression now shown on his face.

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Kirito and Klein bumped into the last person they wanted to meet, blocking the gates to the ALF, was the infamous cactus-head Kibaou, loving nickname Spikey.

"So what did we do to have a famous beater grace us with his presence?" Kibaou smirked as he looked at Kirito, his arms folded and acting out a perfect impersonation of a street thug.

"Nothing much Kibaou-san, I'm just looking to speak to a few of you in the ALF." Kirito spoke calmly, trying not to further aggravate the man who clearly hated his guts.

"Well, if you've got no business then I suggest you leave, the air is cleaner with the likes of you far and away. I'd tell you to jump off the side of the castle, but I doubt a coward such as yourself would be brave enough to do society a favor." The self-proclaimed sub-leader of the ALF sneered at Kirito, and Klein stepped up to confront the man.

"Look here Spikey, if you've got nothing better to do then move aside, we have no time to deal with parasites like you. I would suggest that you actually put yourself on the lines for a change, that way you'll actually be at the level where you can contribute to the clearing party." Klein shouted at Kibaou, having lost his temper.

"Why you!" Kibaou drew his sword, and pointed it at Klein. Klein sighed and looked at his aggressor.

"Don't tell me you don't remember that we're in the [Inner Area], now could you stop being a spoiled brat? Forget it, let's go Kirito, he's wasting our time." Klein turned around, and he an Kirito began to walk the other direction.

"Kirito-san, please wait." Kirito recognized the voice of Diabel, and he turned around.

"Diabel, perfect timing" Klein exclaimed, "Spikey here was making a fuss over our visiting, so we figured we'd leave before that mad dog goes rabid."

Diabel nodded his head, and motioned Kirito and Klein to walk towards the [Monument of Life].

"I'm sorry for the commotion; there have been quite a few arguments since the official formation of the ALF as a guild. Many parties are trying to grasp a position where they could exert real power, and it's only natural that they would be weary of a person with great influence." Diabel explained.

"Why would our presence be an issue?" Kirito asked, unsure of what influence Diabel was talking about.

"Well, I suppose Kirito-san does not realize it, but you and Klein-san have a great deal of influence over the people of the front lines. Even just counting pure levels, your group and Klein's guild Fuurinkazan contain the top players. Not to mention Kirito-san's reputation as the boss-slayer…" Diabel continued, to which Kirito lowered his head.

"In any case, I suppose it's not the best idea to go inside for now. I apologize for turning you two back when you took the effort to come here. I'm presume you wanted to meet Thinker-san?" Diabel asked.

"Well, that was part of the plan, but I also wanted to have a chat with you. Well, more like I wanted to get some information about a few things." Kirito explained the rumor about the blonde swordswomen, and Diabel nodded his head.

"Ah, that rumor. To be honest we've been looking for the player as well, but it almost seems as if she's a ghost. Despite our resources we have only been able to know about her last location, nobody was able to follow her either, so either she has a high [Hiding] skill, or she's just plain elusive."

"Do you happen to know where she was last seen?" Klein asked, seeing that Kirito seemed deep in thought

"The last rumor from yesterday night was that she was seen heading into the region where [Kobald Berserkers] spawned. Though nobody has actually gone inside the area, being a highly dangerous area full of traps and all." Diabel said, at which Kirito jumped up.

"Diabel, do you remember what field-boss spawned in that area during the beta?" Kirito asked sharply.

"Uh… if I remember correctly, the [Kobald Punisher], a high AGI type that uses a twin long-sword, if I'm not mistaken it has a 20% chance at dropping a long-sword which is on par with an [Anneal Blade +4]. I remember considering that mob, but it was too difficult for its worth, especially considering the dungeon.

"Thanks Diabel!" Kirito got up quickly, "And thanks for keeping ALF in check, I still believe you'd make a great leader" Motioning Klein, they quickly ran back into the town.

"Heh… the pleasure's all mine." Diabel smiled, "and the we should all be thanking is you… for keeping this number above 9000…"

Looking at the [Monument of Life], the number remained at steady 9445, it has been a while that anyone perished from this game, greatly due to Kirito's efforts in the beginning.

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**[Date: November 26, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 17:00]

Location: [Outside Tolbana – Kobald Territory]

"Kirito? Any luck?" Klein asked, as he slashed down another [Kobald Berserker] that was blocking his path.

"No, nobody here, my searching skill found no traces of anyone having been here for a while." Kirito answered.

"So either the rumours were wrong, or the player was fast enough to clear the floor boss and move on." Klein concluded.

"Yes, and from the way she is progressing, it is likely the latter." Kirito agreed.

"So I suppose we'll have to find her on the cow level?" Klein suggested.

"Hard to say, while there are mobs worth leveling on, generally the second floor does not contain mobs that are worth fighting. The equipment drop especially is not that useful. Furthermore, there is only one quest worth doing…. No… that's impossible"

"What's impossible?" Klein asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about improbable scenarios." Kirito responded. "In any case, trying to find her at this rate is likely to be a lost cause. I guess we'll have to head back."

"Bummer, and I was hoping on catching a glimpse of that fine lady." Klein complained.

Kirito smiled, patted his companion on the shoulder, and the two walked slowly on the route back to the 3rd floor.

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In a secluded hut far away on the second floor, a rhythmic chant echoed throughout the mountains. A blonde-haired swordswoman stood in front a one-and-a-half meter diameter rock, and was attacking it with her bare fists. Beside her a copy of 'Argo's leveling guide' lay on the floor, opened to a page with the picture of a 'Kiri-e-mon' on the [Extra Skills] section.

_Onii-chan was here, so this skill must have its merits, but still…._

Looking at the HP marker of the stone, Leafa noticed that it had not gone down, even after more than an hour. Frustration building up, she wailed as she hit the rock.

"ONII-CHAN NO BAKA!" Leafa's glowing punch hit the rock, reducing the HP by just a hair.

Noticing this, the elf-like girl chuckled, as she lifted her hand once again.

For the next day, echo's of 'baka' could be heard by the resident NPC's around the area.

**Author's Notes:** So how should I play out the fated reunion? Maybe I won't yet… Kirito's got enough girls to deal with already.


	36. DEAD END

**Floor 3 - Dead End**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: Luckily, it seems that my internet's quite stable… so hopefully I'm going to be able to write. My stockpile of reserve chapters is running low though, so still no guarantee that I'll be able to uphold my release schedule. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Time for the plot to arrive… treat me kindly

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: November 30, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 11:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Upper Canopy]

Kirito looked at the monster in front of him, a [Poisonous Spider] 5m ahead of him. He judged that he would probably be able to kill the spider in one hit, if he reached it before it released its [Poison Shot]. Normally it would be a simple task, but the problem lay under his feet – he was standing on a branch, a good two hundred feet in the air.

*GULP* Kirito swallowed his spit, and prepared for the moment, he would have to time his jump perfectly otherwise he would be freefalling to his death.

_3…2…1… GO!_ Kirito jumped forwards as the spider fired its venomous web. Activating his sword skill [Sonic Leap], Kirito soared through the air, and plunged his sword into the spider's back. In a shower of polygons the spider disappeared.

"Phew…" Kirito stood up, ahead of him Silica was dancing from branch to branch, her acrobatics skill helping her greatly as she combated a [Young Harpy Eagle]. The Eagle's 6-foot wingspan provided an easy target, as Silica was able to score cuts and hits on the Eagle's body. As Kirito walked along the branches, he could see the eagle's HP decrease to red, and finally disappear.

"Good work." Kirito patted Silica on the head, as she returned from the fight. A little blue dragon orbited the two, and blew a shower of green lights on them, healing their HP.

"Kirito-san, how much further do you think we have to go?" Silica asked, as Kirito looked around.

"I'm not too sure, but all I can tell is that the end of this dungeon is just at the end of these branches. See that big tree hole?" Kirito pointed to the tree about 500m away.

"So when we get there maybe we'll find a way to the next level?"

"I sure hope so, the last thing I want to do is to climb back down…" Kirito exclaimed, making sure that he didn't look downwards.

It had been seven days since the 3rd floor was opened, and they were stuck with a problem – the floor boss' room was empty, and the door to the 4th floor was locked.

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**[Date: November 27, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 10:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Forest Trail, towards the Grand Sequoia]

"Kirito-kun, you're not leading us anywhere weird right?" Asuna looked at Kirito accusingly, possibly still mad from the incident a few days back.

"No, I dare not try, this is the closest way to the labyrinth area of this floor. I'm planning on scouting the mobs here to see if anything has changed since the beta." Kirito replied, as he carefully observed any changes to the surroundings.

"I don't like how eerie this place is, with all the branches blocking out the sun and all." Lisbeth commented, holding her [Steel Mace 4H1D] close to her body – she had succeeded in upgrading her mace once more, maxing out her upgrades.

"Well, so far everything's been as expected. We'll level right here in this small opening for a short period, and once Klein's group arrives we'll scout the labyrinth." Kirito decided as he walked into the opening, facing a large group of [Squirrels]

Raising his [Dark Anneal Blade], Kirito approaches the squirrels. "These squirrels have low HP and low defense, they're almost at the point where you can one-hit KO them. The only problem is to actually land a hit, as they are really fast."

As Kirito kills the first squirrel, four squirrels start approaching Kirito. "Now the second issue is that they have a skill called [Revenge], in that any player that kills a squirrel will now lure all squirrels in a 5m radius. So it ends up being a non-stop battle…." Kirito stops talking as he starts focusing on the 4 squirrels, making sure that he isn't dealt critical hits during his fight.

Watching Kirito fight, they are once again amazed at how he handles the mobs when he's the only one fighting. Despite fighting four fast moving mobs, Kirito is able to predict the attack pattern of each mob, making sure that most attacks are dodged, and that no critical hits are ever landed. Still, even as Kirito finishes the four squirrels off, his HP was chipped off by a slight amount.

"For the record, if anyone has an AOE attack, then this would be the best leveling spot." Kirito mentioned, at which Lisbeth spoke up.

"Kirito, so if I had a spinning mace strike, would it be effective?" Lisbeth asked, her eyes gleaming.

"Yes, as long as you mind the post-attack lag, as well as your cooldown." Kirito didn't even finish his sentence before Lisbeth charged into the group of squirrels.

"Guess we'd better go in too" Asuna smile, drawing her rapier as she followed Lisbeth.

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Fifteen minutes later, the group stood in the middle of the cleared field.

"That was FUN!" Lisbeth exclaimed, as she swung her mace to and fro. Her new skill [Spinning Demolisher] was extremely effective, killing most of the squirrels in 1 hit, as she plowed through them in the 10s it was active. Once done, she only needed to be supported for 5s before she could move again.

"More like tiring…" Kirito complained

"For once, I agree…" Asuna held onto her rapier, which was stuck in the ground and supported Asuna's arm and body.

"I'm beat… should we go eat?" Silica sat on the ground, panting. On top of head, the little dragon perched itself and started cleaning its feathers.

"Still, it was a good round. So when's re-pop?" Lisbeth asked, her hand shaking in excitement.

"I thought you wanted to work behind the front lines making weapons?" Kirito asked.

"Well, even as a support class, I'll still need to wield my hammer right? I'll use this as practice." Lisbeth was even more cheerful than her usual peppy self.

"Something good happen?" Kirito probed?

"Not really" Lisbeth quickly answered, then looked the other way.

Just then, the familiar sound that indicated a pending repop signaled the 'get ready'

However, Kirito noted something seemed off. The forest was too quiet, as if all the insects became quiet, afraid of something… something big and fearsome.

"EVERYONE GET READY!" Kirito barked, as he motioned everyone to get back up.

Drawing his other blade, Kirito readied himself, he didn't know about it, but he knew it was going to happen.

A shadow was cast on the group, and Kirito looked up to see the shadow's true face.

"BOSS!" Kirito yelled as he noted the floor boss, [The Giant Squirrel King] fly down from the trees above, landing in front of the group.

"I'm guessing this one's not a one-kit-KO" Asuna spoke as she raised her rapier.

"Just hope that we're not the 1-hit KO's" Kirito replied.

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Klein's group arrived to see Kirito and his group sitting on the ground, the ground littered with their swords and throwing picks.

"Hey people, what happened here?" Klein asked out of curiousity.

"Don't ask…" Kirito answered, his hand barely holding on to his blades.

"Kirito-san, I think I'm going to be afraid of squirrels from now on" Silica sighed

"And of course you didn't know about the boss' [Summon allies] ability, and we ended up being surrounded by at least 200 squirrels. Good Job there.." Asuna complained

"I didn't even know that they added a field boss to this area." Kirito whined.

"I suppose that was a little too much fun, but at least it turned out well" Though tired, Lisbeth was still in good spirits.

"So, who ended up the LA?" Klein asked, and as if he asked a stupid question, nobody bothered answering.

"I see, so what'd you get Kirito?"

"Uh.. let's see… there's quite a bit of col, a dozen pastries called a [Beavertail] – odd that it's actually a squirrel and not a beaver, but oh well… then there's two raw materials for equipment…. [Giant Squirrel Fur] and [Razor Tooth]… what do you think Lisbeth?"

Lisbeth paused to think for a moment, "I'll have to check, but my guess is that Silica's going to get a new dagger, and I may be able to get a new robe for someone."

"Sounds like quite the haul…" Klein said, "So you guys want to hit the labyrinth now?"

"Wait.. there's one more item… [King's favorite nut]…" Kirito materialized the nut, which resembled a peanut with a golden shell, he walked over to Silica and her little blue friend.

"Kururu!" Pina became very excited at the sight of the nut, and Kirito slowly brought it to its mouth, watching as Pina consumed the nut.

Suddenly, Pina's body started to glow, and it hovered in the air. Silica watched as Pina grew another feather to its original two, and its wings became larger and more defined, its color started to take on a translucent color instead of its murky blue. Landing on Silica shoulder, she felt the dragon was just as cuddly, and it felt lighter but stronger.

"So, familiars can evolve now? What is this? Something like #%-mon?" Klein asked.

"Well… it's possible, as they say 'there is no such thing as originality, everything's been discovered and done countless times', it's the results that matter." Kirito stated, "Anyways, let's head off to the labyrinth."

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"No way!" Klein exclaimed, he was standing in front of the door that seemed to guard the floor boss' room.

Behind his group, Kirito was equally as surprised. They had casually waltzed into the 3rd floor labyrinth, and have discovered the boss room within an hour. Granted, this party of 10 contained 9 of the known top 10 players in the game so far, but still the ease at which the room was discovered was disturbing.

"Now what do we do?" Lisbeth asked

"Well, ask the guy that brought us here" Asuna pointed at Kirito, who was spacing out as usual.

Silica shook Kirito's sleeve, and Kirito popped back. "Hmm... at this point it's sort of hard to just waltz in and kill the boss. Although the last floor boss was a pushover, the one would probably be slightly different."

"How about we take a peek, and then run out after seeing how the boss is like?" Asuna suggested.

"Agreed, sounds like a plan" Lisbeth voted in support of Asuna's proposal

"We think so as well." Klein said, representing his group.

"So, uh who's going to be the lure?" Kirito asked, realizing that everyone was already looking at him.

*stare*

"Gah! FINE! I'll go lure." Kirito gave up in frustration, putting away both blades, and ACTUALLY materializing a shield, Kirito opened the door. The view was nothing like he imagined.

Inside the extremely large room, the ambience was normal and every single corner of the room could be seen. Kirito walked in cautiously, frequently using his [Search] skill, however no sign of mobs was present.

"This is impossible." Kirito muttered, as he walked behind the empty throne where the door to the next floor would usually be located. He found the door, but the door was locked.

Tapping the door, a message popped up [Invalid access key, door locked until further activation].

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**[Date: November 29, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 16:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Town of Sequoia]

"Nothing makes sense." Asuna complained, "We've explored every corner of the labyrinth at this point, and everything seemed normal except the floor boss' room."

"I've also contacted Argo, apparently nobody so far has triggered a quest that tells us about the floor boss." Kirito added.

"Do you think it was a mistake in the programming?" Silica asked as she grabbed a cookie from the plate.

"Pretty improbable. Especially considering Kayaba's preparation and how everything in his plan worked out so far, he isn't the type to make such silly mistakes. Even if he did, the room should have been fixed by now." Kirito explained

"Then what could it be? Maybe a mutation in the system" Asuna joked, but Kirito didn't laugh.

"A mutation? Sort of like an unexpected change? That would be possible…" Kirito mumbled as he considered the possibilities.

"If something occurred that wasn't expected, like a quest. Then it could possibly trigger a change? Wait.. so something like the quest we did could have changed the status of the boss' room?" Lisbeth suddenly pointed out.

"It's unlikely though, since the quest would be an instance quest. It doesn't make sense for one group of players to cause the entire player population to be bogged down." Kirito argued against the hypothesis.

"Well in that case we're back to square one…" Asuna sighed.

"Hey Kirito, how high was the difference between the floors in Aincrad?" Klein suddenly asked.

"Around 100m, if I recall." Kirito replied, not exactly paying attention to the implications.

"So does that mean some of the trees can touch the next floor?" Klein continued, as everyone came to the realization.

"Klein, you're a genius!" Kirito praised his friend, genuinely amazed at his observation

"Turns out you've got a good brain after-all" Asuna smiled at Klein.

"Wow, Klein-san. That was really good thinking"

"uh… yeah.. thanks…" Klein shyly replied, having never been admired before in his life.

"Well, he's always got a good intuition, a shame he uses on women instead of everything else" Lisbeth teased.

"Hey, my intuition on women is 100% accurate; I firmly believe that each one of you will become a wonderful woman. I swear by my bachelor's honor." Klein replied shamelessly

"waa… that's cold… pass" Lisbeth raised her hands in surrender.

"Me too, sorry." Asuna followed suit.

"Sorry Klein-san, but I'll have to pass as well…" Silica apologized.

"GUU!" Klein collapsed on the floor, as the entire group broke into laughter.

"Now the issue is, who's going to try to go up there?" Kirito asked, once the group had calmed down.

"Well, I can probably go up with my [Acrobatics] skill." Silica volunteered, and as Kirito looked at her, he met with her pleading eyes.

"I'll go as well then… since it would be a good chance to practice my [Weapon Throwing]" Kirito became the second volunteer, as Silica excitedly grabbed his sleeve.

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**[Date: November 30, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 11:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Upper Canopy]

Standing on a wide branch that resembled a grand walkway, Kirito walked slowly with Silica towards the chamber that resembled a floor boss room. Wary of their surroundings, the two moved with their weapons in hand, ready for any unexpected aggressors.

"Kirito-san, do you think the boss is going to be inside the room?" Silica asked nervously, she had participated both of the previous boss battles, but had not actually fought the boss face-to-face but instead provided support by fighting the guardian mobs.

"It'll be fine, if the floor boss appears we'll be running, so neither of us will have to fight it." Kirito reassured Silica, lighting patting her head.

"Thanks Kirito-san" Silica replied cheerfully.

Approaching the chamber, Kirito realized that the room was actually he hollowed portion of the Grand Sequoia. If that is true, then naturally this highest part of the level would be the access point to the next level, but something bothered him.

_This room seems signifficantly bigger than the empty floor boss room for this level, which is quite uncommon, especially for lower levels. Usually a boss room is larger at later levels to accommodate a larger clearing party. This one is gigantic…_

Kirito walked in further, and noticed a pillar looked as if it was covered in an amber substance. He walked over cautiously, with Silica in tow, and was shocked at what the pillar was.

Inside the pillar, that was likely covered in transparent tree sap, a spiraling staircase led from the floor to the ceiling. That was definitely the stairs that connected the third floor to the fourth. Kirito gave the sap a light hit, and immediately the purple [Immortal Object] notice came up.

"So we've found the stairs, but this is not the way in." Kirito concluded, as he turned around and continued looking at his surroundings.

Suddenly, a silver sparkle caught Kirito's eye, and Kirito looked up. Straining his virual vision, he could make out that looked a bluish silver sparkle in the middle of the ceiling. It looked like a small pearl wrapped in a torrent of tree branches, securing it in its position.

"Silica, can you see what that glittering ball is?" Kirito asked, pointing upwards as Silica followed his vision.

"It's really far, but it looks like some sort of ball wrapped in tree branches. Kirito-san, can you move back a bit, I'm going to see if I can see it better then I jump. Oh, and please turn around" Silica added shyly.

Kirito turned around, and walked several steps back, he could hear Silica take a short run, as she jumped into the air. After hearing her land, he walked over to her and asked "How'd it go"

"It's still too far, I can get the object ID to pop up." Silica replied.

"If we only had something to jump off of. OH! I know" Kirito suddenly gave the 'I've got it' gesture.

Kneeling down, he put both hands together like a cheerleader would, and motioned to Silica who understood. She was about to step onto Kirito's hands when she realized something, quickly her face turned red as she stepped back.

"Ki…Ki…Kirito-san no ecchi!" Silica cried out, to Kirito's surprise. He didn't know what he did, and especially did not expect Silica to say something like that.

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked, as he looked at Silica, who was holding her skirt down with all her might. Finally it dawned on him.

"Oh… I'm sorry. Never thought of that." Kirito apologied.

"Kirito-san no baka, I'm not a child anymore…" Silica muttered, and raised her voice "I'm a girl too, so Kirito-san needs to be more careful, otherwise you'll get everyone mad again."

"Sorry…" Kirito had his head down, regretting his lack of social awareness. He saw Silica materialize a long robe, and he turned around realizing she was going to switch her equipment underneath.

"OK, I'm ready" Silica spoke to Kirito, as he turned around and saw that Silica was wearing what seemed to be a tight leather pants commonly used by high AGI users. Putting a little more thought, he wondered why Silica didn't wear that all the time instead of her regular skirt, though he refrained from asking due to a last minute EQ buff.

"Great, are you ready?" Kirito kneeled down, allowing Silica to put his foot on his arms.

"and…. Up!" Kirito put his full strength into his body, as Silica soared up into the air. He watched as Silica flew upwards, and reached the peak of her travel. Suddenly, a gush of wind blew into the room, and Silica's posture was disturbed. Kirito quickly jumped up as well, just in time to catch Silica as she fell head-first back on the ground.

"Uh… thank you Kirito-san" Silica murmured, while Kirito held her in his arms in a 'princess carry', he noted the 'stun' status on Silica's icon, and looked around wearily.

_That wind was definitely not normal, as if it was protecting whatever it was up there from being reached. However, there does not seem to be any mobs in the area that initiated the attack._

"Uh… Kirito-san?" Silica spoke, "you can put me down now, thank you." Kirito looked down to see a red-face Silica burying her face in embarrassment, and he quickly panicked.

"I'm sorry!" Kirito apologized as he gently let Silica down.

"No, no, I'm thankful that I get to be carri… I mean thanks for saving me" Silica stuttered her thanks. "So thanks to the boost I was able to see the item name."

"Perfect, I wonder what it is?"

"[Orb of Water]" Silica answered, unaware that Kirito's expression would do a 180.

"WHAT?!" Kirito's exclamation made Silica jump, he quickly grabbed Silica's hand, and pulled her to the exit of the chamger

"What's wrong? Kirito-san. You have that same expression as you did last time we were down in the caves in the first floor?" Silica asked carefully.

Calming down, Kirito explained "Well, it's a long story that I'll explain when everyone's here. In short though, it we get too close to that orb, we WILL die."

Recalling Kirito's trauma in the first floor dungeon, Silica finally made sense of the situation. "So the gigantic mob in the first floor, it was protecting a similar [Orb]? And that's why if we try to get this [Orb of Water], it's likely a similar mob might attack us?"

"Yes, and if it appears we're most definitely dead." Kirito answered quietly, paranoid that the mob might appear at any moment.

"_That is a good deduction, human-boy. However, lucky for you, that is not correct."_ A voice echoed in the chambers, causing Kirito to turn around and draw his sword.

**Author Notes:** Oops… didn't plan my chapters properly…


	37. Jumping Ahead

**Floor 3 - Jumping Ahead**

**NOTE: DOUBLE RELEASE! HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR TO THOSE THAT CELEBRATE IT!**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Author Notice: Luckily, it seems that my internet's quite stable… so hopefully I'm going to be able to write. My stockpile of reserve chapters is running low though, so still no guarantee that I'll be able to uphold my release schedule. **** =o)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Authors Notes: **Time for another level skip?

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: November 30, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 11:30]

Location: [3rd Floor – Upper Canopy]

The unknown voice surprised Kirito and Silica.

"_That is a good deduction, human-boy. However, lucky for you, that is not correct."_ A voice echoed in the chambers, causing Kirito to turn around and draw his sword.

"_The [Orb of Water] cannot be obtained until its guardian is defeated, this is correct. However, the guardian lies not on this floor, but the one above."_

Out of the shadows, a figure appeared out of thin air. Kirito was shocked that even Pina was not able to detect its presence, having a nature detection affinity that was probably equivalent to a mastered [Searching] skill.

"_Worry not, [Wood-walking] our inherent ability that prevents all detection while walking in the woods, it is classified as a sorcery-level enhancement passed down through our blood. I'm sure you understand its implications."_

Noting that the wood-elf was not hostile, Kirito stepped forward and asked.

"My name is Kirito, do you know how to reach the next floor? How about obtaining the [Orb of Water]?"

"_Yes, the legends told of humans that wished to reach the peak of this castle, so that our lands would be liberated finally from the centuries of imprisonment. Fortunately, both your questions are answered by the same answer – You must defeat the guardian of water on the next floor."_

Kirito gulped, as he realized that the guardian was likely a monster that he would have no chance at defeating in his current state.

"_I can sense your fear, but do not worry - the time to confront the guardian is not in the near future. You will need to approach the next floor from the top, and it will take a long time to reach the guardian."_

Kirito was confused by the elf's words, he had never heard of anyone approaching a lower through the top, and this definitely was not the case in the closed beta test.

"_Currently, what you humans know as the 3__rd__ to 10th floors of Aincrad, are cursed by a powerful magic mishap. An unknown group of spellcraft users have attempted to recreate a lost sorcery, and as a result barriers have been erected throughout, blocking passage for humans and non-humans alike. This disaster has caused a great deal of conflict within our lands, and will probably lead to the extinction of our race." _The elder-wood-elf continued and an "!" mark appeared on its head.

"How do we solve the problem?" Kirito asked, noting that he triggered the quest conditions

A key materialized in the hand of the elder-wood-elf, as he spoke.

"_Inside the 10th floor dungeon, in the room leading to the next realm, once you have defeated the guardian, you will be able to unlock the door leading to the next realm with this key . We have long been forbidden to travel beyond what you know as the 10th level, so we do not what awaits there. My job is to provide you with the key, hero Kirito."_

Kirito frowned at the mention of 'hero', but he allowed the elf to continue.

"_However, it is also my desire to see our lands freed from the harm of the magic that we unleashed on our lands. The lost of sorcery was our punishment for abusing the ancient technologies of the past, and now we must rid our lands of magic completely if we are to survive. This key also has the ability to unlock the door leading back down to the lower 9__th__ floor."_

"_You will likely have to face the guardian of the 9__th__ before setting foot on the actual lands. Unfortunately I cannot tell you how the situation is, but all we know is that the magic has already contaminated all the creatures from the 4__th__ floor to the 9__th__. If you choose to help them, I can only wish you luck."_

After a short hesitation, Kirito nodded and answered "I will assist in releasing the lands from the magic that plagues it."

"I'll help too, if Kirito-san is going to help." Silica took a step forward and volunteered.

"_I thank you, the fate of our race may well rest on your hands. Now, before you depart, I would like to grant you one additional gift." _The elf raised his hand, and all of a sudden the skies turned to black. Clouds covered sky that was finally visible from the upper canopy, and the roars of thunder could be heard.

All of a sudden, a massive strike of lightning struck the ground 5m in front of Kirito. Silica let out a scream and jumped into Kirito's arms, while Kirito stood stunned at the event.

The lightning strike continued for several seconds, then condensed into a sphere of ball lightning, the ball then contracted, sparking purple streaks of plasma, until it shrank to the size of an orb.

"_I entrust you with the [Orb of Lightning], which will prove useful when fighting the guardian of water. Unfortunately I sense that neither of you are compatible with its abilities, but your destiny will lead you to the wielder of this artifact."_

Kirito reached out to the orb, and stored it inside his inventory. Below the place the orb was originally suspended, the ground had been glazed to a point where it was glassy smooth. Kirito attempted to pry the glass-like substance off, with no success.

"_[Condensed Sequoia]_, one of _the rarest and hardest woods known to our lands. I will also give possession of this to you." _The wood-elf raised its hand, and the floor suddenly opened up, spitting the piece of glass-like wood out of the floor, Kirito knocked the wood lightly, and noted that its hardness was even higher than the rock he smashed during his training of [Martial Arts].

"_Now, it is time you take your departure. I bid you farewell, and may the god of fortune smile at you during your mission."_

Kirito watched as the tree branches form a tunnel that led from the chamber downwards to the ground, it looked like a slide. Approaching the slide, Kirito gulped.

"Uh… you're sure it's safe right?" as Kirito sat down he asked nervously, to which the woodelf did not respond.

"Well here goes… Silica?" Kirito looked at Silica, who had a scared expression.

"If you want, I can hold you while we go down." Kirito offered, to which Silica took a step back.

"No thanks… I'll go after Kirito-san… or maybe this." Silica sat behind Kirito, grabbing his waist from behind. Kirito's face flushed red as he tried to ignore the sensation on his back.

"Kirito-san, are you ready to go?" Silica asked innocently, then pushed as she and Kirito began to slide down into the tunnel created by the branch.

Kirito did not have enough time to consider anything else, as his vision blurred into a mix of brown and green.

"ARGH!"

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Finishing his message to his comrades, Kirito saw on the floor, appreciating the feeling of having solid ground under his feet. The last 10 minutes were life-changing, and he was still trying to reflect on it.

_I don't think I'll ever be interested in roller coasters again after this._

"Kirito-san? I'm done changing now." Silica's voice brought Kirito back to reality, as he turned around.

Dressed in a light yellow shirt, and matching skirt, Silica was setting the position of her dagger. Her hair that was normally tied up was now let down to shoulder length, and changed her entire appearance.

"What's wrong Kirito-san, do I look weird like this?" Silica asked, a little worried that Kirito might disapprove of her appearance.

"No, it's just that you look different, very attractive and lady-like." Kirito blurted out, realizing for the first time that Silica was also a beauty in her own right.

"The way you say it makes me feel complicated, you're still seeing me a child aren't you, even you're just two years older." Silica pouted, as she began to tie up her hair.

"Don't worry, I'm a child as well. I'm sure you'll grow to be a lovely lady, whose boyfriend will be the envy of many." Kirito praised Silica, trying to be as sincere as he could.

"Mou… Kirito-san…" Silica blushed as she turned away, then the two started laughing.

"Well, shall we head back?" Kirito held out his hand, which Silica accepted happily.

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**[Date: November 30, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 13:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Market Area]

"So in short, we're stuck on this level until we find a way to jump to the 10th?" Lisbeth summarized Kirito's report

"Pretty much, now the first problem is how we can get there. That I already have a pretty good idea, but the second part is what we should do afterwards." Kirito continued

"Isn't it obvious, we continue to fight to the labyrinth, then open up the 10th floor and keep going." Asuna replied, while repositioning her beloved rapier so that it would not collide with the chair she was sitting on.

"Well, that's actually the biggest problem, the mobs on the 10th floor would invariably much harder to kill. Considering that we're jumping seven floors in one go, pretty much all of our equipment automatically becomes outdated, as will our levels." Kirito cautioned.

"So what you're saying, is that even Kirito might be in danger once we go there" Klein asked.

"Not 'might', 'will'. The 10th floor was as far as we got to in the beta test. Even if all the mob patterns remain unchanged, we have no way at predicting the patterns of the field bosses, nor the floor boss. If we are not careful we might face total annihilation." Kirito continued, as a cold wave of silence swept across the table.

A set of bell-chimes signaled the arrival of another guest

"Hi, Kii-bou, I heard you found the clue to reaching the next level." Argo greeted the party and sat down, while taking the 'Leveling guide update' from Kirito and putting it into her inventory.

"Yes, but there are more problems than just reaching the next floor right now." Kirito proceeded to reiterate the problems that the players might face, while Argo nodded in thought.

"Well, it looks like we'll need someone who can motivate the group to stay put and level safely once we're on floor 10. I'll contact my sources and find someone that might fit the role, since I'm guessing that you don't want to do it?" Argo grinned at Kirito.

"Please do, and while you're at it, try to promote a level minimum of 15 for all players wishing to head to the 10th floor. And finally, what's the price?" Kirito replied, knowing well the rules set down by the information demon.

"Free, but remember you owe me another one." Argo winked as she left, which sent shivers down Kirito's spine - an IOU was much worse than a 100K payment…

"Now, I guess it's up to us to do what we can." Kirito said.

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**[Date: November 30, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 18:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Misty Forest]

"I'll be heading to find Kizmel, after that I'll join you at the diner's." Kirito said as he separated from the party, they had spent the last several hours fighting in the forest, and were going to take a quick dinner break.

"OK, just don't do anything reckless. In the meantime, I'll take care of your hare…." Klein's joke was interrupted by Lisbeth hitting his head with the rod-end of her mace.

Kirito waved as he headed into the forest, and as he approached the entrance he noticed a familiar figure. The boy he had met on the first floor while farming cows, was standing in the middle of the forest path. Kirito carefully walked up slowly to the boy that looked slightly younger than him.

"Good afternoon, Kirito-san, fancy seeing you here." The boy, Aki, greeted Kirito as he stepped up to him.

"What are you doing here?" Kirito asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know, just observing the tranquility of the forest I suppose." Aki's answer was cryptic as usual.

"Well, I'm heading in, want to tag along, that way at least we'll have someone to help out in case we get ambushed." Kirito told a white-lie, he was fully comfortable with this region, at least up to where Kizmel was.

"Sure, the pleasure's mine." The boy responded swiftly, requesting Kirito to a party before Kirito even started to access the menus.

_Wow, he's fast with his menu commands. I didn't even notice when he did it_.

Kirito clicked the OK, button, and motioned them to go forwards.

It turns out that Kirito was right about one thing, that they didn't need to party. Kirito watched in amazement as Aki swept through the ambushing mobs with no resistance, as if the mobs were inconsequential. Soon, they had reached the camp grounds where Kizmel was stationed.

"Halt!" The two dark-elf door guardians held their axes blocking the entrance.

"Please let us pass, we request to speak to Krusa." Kirito spoke to the guards, who did not take well to his request.

"Silence, foolish human, you dare soil our ears by requesting an audience, and furthermore, to refer to her greatness by name." One of the guards barked at Kirito. At this point, Aki took a step forward.

"Let us pass, or else." Aki's voice boomed deeply, his usual gentleness nowhere to be found.

"Or else what, weak hum…." The guard's speech was cut short, when a crimson light made a cross, and both weapons of the guards were cut clean from the handle.

"[Snake Bite]" Aki announced quietly, while holding the sword in his hand – a [Steel Sword]

"Why you!" The guards took a step back, as they drew their swords from their scabbards.

_Oh boy… here goes…_ Kirito gulped as he reached for the hilt of his blade.

"STOP, both sides cease hostilities!" A familiar voice boomed from behind, and Kirito turned to see Kizmel walk towards the camp.

"These are honored guests of mine, stand down." Kirito noted that Kizmel's armor had an additional decoration, possibly a badge, and turned to speak to her.

"Kizmel-san, it's been a while."

"Several days, though I suppose for you it is a long time, being a busy bee as usual." Kirito was once again shocked at how NPC's had such an ability to interact with players. "Please come this way, along with your friend."

Kirito and Aki followed Kizmel into the main tent, and told of their tales to Krusa.

"I understand, so you have also been told of our current problems. In that case I can no longer treat you as mere outsiders." Krusa spoke with a saddened voice. "You are correct, at this rate our entire race is in danger of being wiped out. That is the reason that we are at war with the wood-elves. We believe that they are trying to reactivate an ancient weapon to force the other elf races into submission."

Kirito listened in silence, as Krusa continued.

"Our [Secret Key] allows us to access the [Elvin Archives], located in a place you call the 5th floor, and there we should be able to find out the true nature of the weapon. But as you can see, we are unable to access any floor apart from the 3rd and 10th, and we have lost contact with our allies within the restricted areas."

"Where is the queen of the Dark-Elf race?" Kirito asked, knowing that it is a trigger to the quest back in the beta.

"Our queen is located on the 10th floor, as are the rulers of all the Elvin races. We are currently trying to arrange a conference with the other races, before war breaks out and everything becomes too late.

"Can I help" Kirito asked.

"As a matter of fact, I need you to bring this to the queen." Krusa produces a roll of parchment, handing it to Kirito.

"All our units are being constantly monitored, so we are unable to deliver this message, but if you are the one to deliver it we may succeed. The queen is sure to reward you for your efforts."

"Very well, I will go." Kirito replied, noting that the "?" mark on Krusa's head disappeared, indicating the start of the quest.

"Kizmel will escort you to the spot where you will depart to the 10th floor, and wait for you while you complete your quest. Please be careful as the monsters on that floor are very dangerous, and that we do not encourage you NOT to attempt to reach the human settlements." Krusa finished her advice, and left the tent.

_I'm sorry, but this is exactly what I intend to do._ Kirito thought inside his mind.

Walking with Kizmel, she brought Kirito and Aki to an area near the edge of the forest. Raising her hand, the wall of trees vanished, revealing what appeared to be a teleportation gate.

"When you are ready, bring your party and meet me here. Vladm and I will then transport you to the 10th floor, to where our leaders are."

Kirito nodded, then looked at Aki "Do you wish to join us later on to explore the 10th floor?"

Aki hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Thank you for the offer, but I feel that I am not ready yet, maybe someday in the future."

Kirito took the reply as a subtle way to refuse, so he didn't pursue. He an Aki walked to the exit, and parted ways.

"Thank you Kirito-san, we shall meet again." Aki bowed to Kirito, then walked down the path towards the second floor, leaving a puzzled Kirito.

_I guess there are players that are like him as well… I suppose I shouldn't ask him to participate in the boss clearings for now, since he probably feels insecure about his safety. Still, that Aki guy is really strong, probably stronger than I am… it would have been nice to have him in the party… maybe someday._

Walking back to the town, Kirito cleared his mind and wondered what was for dinner. The preparations were complete, and the next few days were going to be busy, better stuff up while he could.

In the distance, the young boy smiled and uttered, "Good Luck, Kirito-san", as he closed his party window.

**Author Notes:** So here we are at the end of the 'floor by floor' routine. What's next? Stay tuned. For the records, who is Aki? Who knows? As far as I can tell, he could just be a placeholder character ;) (yeah right…)

For Leafa fans out there, I've got a chapter for her soon, so don't kill me yet. She did start a little late, and a complete MMOnoob to boot… it'd be bad for her to be reaching the front lines so soon… even with her cheat-book and her 1337 kendo skills.


	38. Brave New World

**Floor 10 - Brave New World**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**NOTE: DOUBLE RELEASE! HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR TO THOSE THAT CELEBRATE IT!**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 2, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 11:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Outside Misty Forest]

Kirito stood in front of the group that had gathered to become the vanguard party for opening the path for the 10th floor. All of the faces were familiar, and he wouldn't have it any other way. He took a breath to prepare for his pep-talk – something that he spent an entire night thinking of.

Suddenly, Klein stepped in front of Kirito. "Now, we're all gathered here because of a certain person, and that person so happens to be preparing to give _another inspirational speech_. Since we all know how _that_ went, how about we just get going?"

Laughter immediately erupted throughout the group, leaving Kirito stunned. Lisbeth slapped Kirito's back, "OK now, now Klein's done the hard part, do you have anything else to add?"

"Uh… so yeah, let's go?" Kirito asked nervously, and was met with another round of laughter.

"OK, let's get going then." Asuna ordered the group, which started moving into the forest, leaving Kirito behind.

"HEY! Wait up!" Kirito started running after the group.

Kizmel and Vladm were at the teleport gate by the time the group arrived.

Kirito confirmed his party members, Agil, Argo, Asuna, Lisbeth, Silica and himself. To his right Klein had his guide assembled, ready to go as well.

"OK guys, are we ready to do this?" Kirito said.

"Fuurinkazan, ready when you are!" Klein replied, as his guild nodded at Kirito.

"Okay"

"Good as ever"

"Let's go!"

"Whenever you're ready"

" *nod*"

Kirito nodded, and turned to Kizmel. "Kizmel-san, Vladm-san, we are ready."

"Teleport, [Decium Grande]!"

A blue light engulfed the entire, as the scenery blurred into darkness, then changed to clear blue palette.

The 10th floor was almost like a miniature version of SAO, where the castle 'floated' atop of raised land-masses.

Looking up at the sky, not a single cloud was seen, as the simulated sky extended to as far as the eye could see. In the distance, small hills were visible, as were rivers leading to the horizon. The fresh smell of grass accompanied the expanse of green, leading into the distant mountains.

"Welcome to Decium, the capital of Elvin culture." Kizmel announced.

"We caution you to be careful, as the locals here are much more dangerous than anything you've encountered." Vladm cautioned, as he stepped out of the teleport platform.

"Please follow us inside the castle, I will go ahead and inform my leader of your arrival, then we will have you meet my leader." Kizmel turned around, and led the players through the castle gate.

"Whoa!" Klein exclaimed, as he marveled at the interior. The castle was at least as big as 10x10 soccer fields, and inside dark-elves were going about their business as a normal day in the market.

As Kizmel disappeared down the road, Kirito and his group were left standing at the fountain in the middle of a castle, and they decided to walk around while they waited.

Walking around, Kirito made note the area seem divided into four sections, the market section contained an assortment of shops, including weapons, armor, metalwork, and accessory shops. Noting to visit the accessory shop later – a type of shop so-far not available, Kirito continued onto what looked like the living area.

The living area was lined with rows of two-floored buildings, all linked to each other. There were many NPC houses, and several smaller inns were also present. At the end of the alleyway, a large five-story building stood on its own, with a large banner [Perfect Ten].

_I guess this is the equivalent of the luxury hotel… _Kirito thought as he walked past.

Walking down the street, the alleys grew darker as he approached what seemed to be the slums of the castle area. The streets were narrower, the ambience was much darker, and a general feeling of despair filled the air. Kirito frowned as he continued walking, as suddenly someone bumped into him. Instinctively grabbing the person, an exclamation mark appeared on top of the mob's head.

"I'm sorry, I promise that I won't try to steal from you again!" The face was one of a young dark-elf, and his expression was one of fear.

"Why did you steal from me?" Kirito asked, as he noted the flashing exclamation indicating a quest beginning, as well as his col going up by 5000, his pick-pocketed money returned to his inventory.

"My name is Bosh, and I need to get money to save my sister. Please don't hand me over to the guards, I don't have much time, and I need to save her."

"What happened to your sister?" Kirito asked.

"She is being held captive by the guards at [Perfect Ten], because apparently she caused them to lose money. The gang that owns the inn, [Elvin Ghosts], won't release her even though I already paid the damages of 1000 col. So now I need more money."

"Where is she?"

"Probably still locked up in the inn, but that may not be for long. I know that the gang smuggles population between the different races to use as slaves and servants, so if I don't hurry I will be too late. Please help me sir." The young elf Bosh started crying, and a question mark appeared on his head.

"OK, I will see what I can do. In the meantime do not continue stealing."

"Thank you very much sir! I will keep finding a way to save my sister." Bosh ran into the back alleys.

_So in other words we'll still have to be careful when walking these streets… guess I'll get Argo to spread the word._

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"You're late!" Kirito was greeted by Asuna's scolding as he returned.

"Sorry, I literally bumped into a quest while I was walking around. Make sure you guys be careful when walking in the slums area, there's a pickpocket that will make you lose 5000 col, and if you catch him you get an option to start a quest. Argo, please note that in your floor guide later."

"Starting quests already, how Kirito-like. Doesn't excuse you from being late though." Lisbeth remarked. "So, since you've recovered your valuable 5000 col, I guess you don't mind treating us to lunch?"

"ugh…"

"I'll take a double-steak with bacon and fries, plus an ale. Same goes for Dale, Harry One, Issin, Dynamm, Kunimittz, and Agil as well, right?" Klein said, looking as Agil as he nodded.

"We'll be nice to you today, so maybe two sandwich platters for us, and a milkshake each? Anyone want dessert" Asuna grinned as she looked at Kirito

"Since it's Kii-bou's treat, I'll go easy and just order a Baked Alaska, the diner's here really has an impressive variety of foods."

"I want to have a strawberry cheesecake... Oh… sorry Kirito-san, maybe I won't." Silica stopped as she saw Kirito's expression.

"You guys serious?" Kirito sighed, and the group burst into laughter.

"OK, jokes aside. We'll go easy on Kirito later, but let's get him to finish his quest first." Agil pointed to Kizmel, who had a blank expression on her face.

"Kizmel-san, sorry for the wait, we are ready." Kirito walked up to Kizmel and spoke.

"I don't mind, we shall go in. I must say you humans have interesting interactions though." Kizmel's un-NPC-like reaction surprised Kirito again, as he followed her lead into the castle.

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"In recognition of your achievements, I present you with this Knight-sword. May the sword protect you as it has done for those who have put their lives on the line to serve our people."

The dark-elf queen spoke majestically, as Kirito received the sword, silent as surprise overwhelmed him.

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"Lucky you, to think that only you got a new weapon when we all escorted you to this castle" Klein complained.

"Don't worry, Kirito-kun's DEFINITELY paying the tabs on lunch today" Asuna smirked.

"I don't think Kizmel-san was too pleased when we said we were staying on this level though." Lisbeth commented, to which Asuna replied "But she's just an NPC isn't she?"

Kirito did not say a word, as he was obviously deep in thought.

"Kirito-san is something wrong?" Silica asked Kirito, who had a troubled expression.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just didn't expect to receive this sword so early. Last time I had to do a dozen quests or so before I got the sword." Kirito replied, as he drew the long-sword that was given to her by the queen of the dark-elf race.

"Let me see?" Lisbeth said as Kirito passed her the sword. "Wow… it's heavy… no way! 15 [Reinforcement Attempts Count]?"

"As expected, being the best long-sword from the beta, Kii-bou you lucky guy. I'm surprised they didn't downgrade the sword, since the quest became much easier. GAH! And to think I already prepared the guide for that quest already!" Argo complained, to Kirito's surprise.

"I'm surprised you're even writing all this onto paper." Kirito commented

"Well, I need to store the information somewhere, do you think that Onee-san is a supercomputer or something. Next time I'll have you help me with writing all the information down." Argo glared at Kirito, who quickly walked away.

Arriving at the diner's Kirito turned around, "You guys go in first, I'll joining you guys after I check on the [Perfect Ten] inn… and guys, please try to keep it within 10,000 col?"

"Haiii!" The group laughed as they entered, leaving Kirito to himself.

_Now then… _ Kirito activated his [Hiding] and went to the living area.

The inn [Perfect Ten] was no doubt a very high class inn, each of the five floors with a higher ceiling. Kirito noted that many NPC's were programmed to travel to the inn, creating the illusion of a highly sought after venue.

Walking to the back of the inn, Kirito noted that there was a hidden entrance alongside the normal entrance. He checked his surrounding with his [Searching] skill, and noted that no NPC's were nearby. Quickly opening the hidden trap door, he entered the building.

Silently travelling down the corridor, he noted that there were many cells that would be used to hold prisoners. At the end of the corridor, he heard the voices of people crying for help. About a dozen young girls and women filled the room, all dressed in rags and torn clothing. Each one had their hands chained together, as were their feet.

At this point, Kirito realized that the inn was a ruse for an elaborate smuggling operation, and the quest he got was much larger than he originally thought. If this level contained all the castles for the major elf races, then this operation would likely spread throughout all the castles on this floor, if not more.

Suddenly, the hidden door opened, and Kirito quickly hid behind a crate. Two menacing elves entered the dungeon, walked past Kirito, and sat at a table outside the room of the imprisoned elves. Many who began to scream and cry at the sight of their captors.

"Don't scream and cry so soon, a few weeks later once we get you to our base, you'll have tons of chances to scream and moan." One of the guards laughed, as he took a bottle out and put it on the table.

Kirito looked at the two elves, a level 20 – [Elf Smuggler], and realized that he was probably no match. Quietly sneaking to the exit, he exited the dungeon and sprinted back to the market district.

_I'll still got time, don't worry, I'll save you all soon._

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Walking back into the diner, Kirito was greeted with a full table of food, and eleven eyes that were glaring at him.

"For a second, we thought you got killed, what took so long?" Klein joked.

"Well… I probably would have gotten killed if I got caught back there." Kirito answered solemnly, as he gave a quick description of what he witnessed.

His group listened silently, and as Kirito finished.

"Well, it can't be helped yet. None of us are strong enough, and at this point, it doesn't matter." Asuna stated calmly.

"What do you mean?" Kirito asked, surprised that Asuna would remain so calm.

"Exactly what I said, it doesn't matter. As long as we don't do anything, that quest will remain at the same stage right? That's what you told me. Besides, our main objective right now is to open the town to this floor, so that the players can continue onwards."

"…" Kirito was unable to find a legitimate argument, as Asuna was correct on all counts.

"Well… if we can get the town opened today, then we'll have time to come back. No need to be so concerned." Klein tried to relieve Kirito's worries.

"Besides, we need to strengthen ourselves before we can do anything. It would be wiser to level ourselves a bit as well." Agil added.

"Kirito-san, don't worry, those elves will be fine until we rescue them."

After a short period, the group managed to persuade Kirito, and lunch went on without any more issues. Kirito however, seemed to be distracted throughout.

At the end of dinner, after reluctantly paying the tab, Kirito spoke to everyone present. "Don't worry, I've given up on speeches… we all know what to do, so let's get ready. Let's head off to the market district?"

Arriving at the market district, Kirito stepped towards the accessory's shop, amidst the curious gazes of the girls in the group.

"Haha… aren't you afraid they'll make fun of your effeminate side?" Klein joked.

"Shut-up, it's important you know. Equipping decent accessories that is." As Kirito walked into the shop, the girls quickly following as Klein's group and Agil reluctantly followed.

Five minutes later.

"Hey Agil, what do you think of this bandana? Do you think it looks better than the old one?" Klein stood in front of the mirror, positioning a new red bandana that was slightly thicker than his previous one.

"I think it looks fine," Agil replied, as he rummaged through the assortment of wristbands available.

"Kirito! What do you think? Does this bandana suit me well?"

"Yeah it looks good! But remember to check the stats" Kirito replied, then sighed.

_And here they were commenting on how I was being girly because I was looking for accessories. Oh well… I found what I was looking for._

Apart from the upgraded wrist-guard, ankle-guards, and belts, Kirito also found the item that he needed. [Shadow Hood] – a hood that increases [Hiding], as well as [Owl's Shades] - a pair of glasses that amplifies light at night, and increases [Searching]. He wanted to get other items, but he needed to save money for the upgrades he needed for his blade.

"Kirito-san, what do you think of these hair-bands?" Silica appeared beside Kirito, and asked. Kirito noted that Silica had switched her normal hair-bands for another set. The bands had two little blue diamond-textured cubes on it, and contrasted with her brown hair.

"It looks pretty nice, but maybe you'll need to buy some matching clothes for it later on." Kirito said, opening up a menu and paying for the hair-bands.

"Ah… thank you Kirito-san!" Silica's expression lit up, as she thanked Kirito.

"It's nothing, not like it's an expensive item." Kirito replied, continuing to check the accessories.

"hmm… pretty smooth here Mr. Rich Guy…" Lisbeth suddenly appeared, "I suppose you won't mind buying something for me as well then?"

"Uh… sure…" Kirito gulped…. "How about this?"

Kirito picked out a pink scarf and held it to Lisbeth, who wore an astonished look.

"Are you crazy? What makes you think that suits me?" Lisbeth gasped out loud.

"It doesn't?" Kirito seemed surprised himself, "I always thought Lisbeth would fit with bright colors and cute accessories, it'd match pretty well… or at least I thought"

"ha? No way!" Lisbeth suddenly panicked, "Me? Cute? That's not exactly what I had in mind…"

"That's not true, Lisbeth-san looks very cute, the pink scarf would match you very well." Silica said, supporting Kirito's claim.

"Well, that's settled," Kirito concluded, purchasing the item. "Here…"

Lisbeth shyly received the item, looking away as a tint of red appeared on her face. "Fine, if you say so… Thanks! Don't expect extra discounts when I work on your equipment for free though."

Walking over to Asuna, Kirtio asked her "What are you looking for?"

"Trying to decide between these two" Asuna replied, holding two pairs of earrings. Kirito looked at the earrings, and opened their stats. The first was a silver trident earrings (DEF+1) and black pearl earrings (STR+3), though the black pearl had better stats, Kirito felt that silver trident earring suited Asuna much more.

"How about the silver ones, they seem to look well on you." Kirito said, to which Asuna looked at him in surprise.

"What are you talking about? These silver ones only increase DEF by 1, whereas these black ones increase STR. Even if I think these silver ones look better, it's obvious that I should choose these black ones." Kirito was surprised as Asuna's pragmatic reply.

"… oh…. anyways, I suppose you've helped me make my mind. I'll take these black ones" Asuna said, as she purchased the black pearl earring, then walked away from a stunned Kirito.

_I don't understand girls…. _Kirito sighed to himself.

"Kii-BOU!" A figure suddenly startled Kirito from behind, and Kirito turned to Argo who was wearing a black cloak.

"How's this cloak? I'll pretend to be you with this from now on." Argo laughed as she held out the cloak. "Pretty nice isn't it? [Hiding+10], AGI+1, +10 save against [Searching]… what do you think Kii-bou?"

Kirito looked at the cloak, true it was a pretty good cloak, almost as good as his [Coat of Midnight]. The price tag, though, was pretty hefty.

"Nee… you're going to buy this for Onee-san right? Right?" Argo pressed her face closer to Kirito, who started sweating buckets. "hmm.. so you're going to buy stuff for Silica-chan, Liz-chan, Asuna-chan, but not me? Onee-san is sad…"

"Ugh… sure, I'll buy it for you…" Kirito resigned, and pressed OK on the purchase.

_There goes my reserves_…

"Yatta! Thank you Kii-bou, Love ya!" Argo gave Kirito a hug, then quickly ran away.

_I think I'm probably going to die at the hands of girls…._

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"Silica-chan, here you go, your new dagger. [Razor Sting]" Lisbeth announced as she succeeded in re-forging Silica's [The Sting] into a new weapon. She had gained access to the blacksmith NPC's permission (she rented the shop for 1 day), and used the opportunity to upgrade the party's equipment. Putting Silica's new dagger beside the new [Leather Fur Coat] that she crafted with the [Giant Squirrel Fur], she turned to Kirito.

"Say Kirito, don't you think it's time we stop? I don't mind not charging you for the upgrade, but isn't this a little overkill?" Lisbeth turned to the sword that Kirito just acquired.

Right after obtaining the quest reward, Kirito had 'absorbed' his [Holy Anneal Blade], and 'attached' the [Orb of Light] into the [Queen's Knightsword]. He then spent almost all his wealth purchasing materials from NPC merchants, and had Lisbeth upgrade the sword.

At this point, lying on the anvil was a [Queen's Knightsword (4S2D)] – Lisbeth had upgraded the sword seven times, failing only once, and yet Kirito wanted to attempt one more upgrade.

"Well, I think that if I'm going to keep this sword anyways, I might as well upgrade it a far as I can, as soon as I can." Kirito replied.

"I give up… fine… guess we'll be buying you meals for a while after this." Lisbeth resigned. "So one more on 'sharpness'?" Kirito nodded.

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Brandishing his [Queen's Holy Knightsword 5S2D], Kirito had a smile on his face, like a boy that was holding a new toy.

"This feels great, you really should start a shop soon Lisbeth." Kirito complimented, as he swung the sword, feeling it cut through the air.

"I will one day, once I get tired of keeping up with you no doubt." Lisbeth laughed, she had a really good crafting streak today, and had increased her crafting skills significantly.

Behind the two, the rest of the group was also testing out their new equipment. Caressing her [Gale Fleuret 2A2Q], Asuna was overjoyed that her weapon, like Silica's, was retained through re-forging.

Lisbeth had switched over to a [Battle Hammer 2H3D], and Argo's [Felicia's Claws] had been upgraded to (5Q). Klein received the [Bull Slayer] from Kirito – the Taurus King's LA bonus item, and refined it to 2S2D.

Agil's weapons had also been upgraded – a [ Battleaxe 1H3D] and a [Taurus Backshield+5] from Kirito – the LA bonus of the Taurus General. Klein's guild-mates also updated their weapons, and reinforced them accordingly.

Walking out of the city, the group prepared to test their new equipment and their resolve. It would take until nightfall to reach the village marking the half-way point, and another full day to reach the town portal.

Drawing their weapons, the group prepared for the long walk ahead, not knowing that the journey would be a fight for their life.

**Author Notes:**

For the record, level values for the main cast:

Kirito - 18

Asuna - 16

Klein - 15

Silica - 15

Argo - 14

Lizbeth – 15

Agil - 15


	39. Staying Alive

**Floor 10 - Staying Alive**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 2, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 17:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Wilderness]

Kirito breathed heavily, as he regained his stance, both of his swords were glowing, one fading having finished one skill, and the other because it was about to initiate.

"HAA" Kirito charged forward, initiating a [Sonic Leap], soaring into the air as his [Anneal Blade] traced an arc onto the [Raging Falcon] body. Using the momentum, Kirito continued to soar into the air, letting go of his [Anneal Blade] momentarily, as his [Queen's Knightsword] began to glow. Tracing a v-shaped trajectory, Kirito activated [Vertical Arc's] two-hit combo, as he cut the Falcon into fragments.

Without a second to spare, Kirito kicked off to the left once his foot touched the ground, his next target a [Forest Wolf], one of the twelve that had surrounded his group. Kirito expected the 10th floor to be difficult, and had prepared to the best of his ability. However, things quickly got out of hand, as he did not expect the spawn rates to be changed over from the beta.

In the past several levels, Kirito noted that with the release and subsequent death-game update of SAO, several monster algorithms had changed and become more complex. This change effectively randomized the behavior of certain monsters, and in several situations almost led to the death of players.

However, in the first ten levels (though only 3 had been accessed), the changes only affected floor bosses and field bosses, and normal mobs remained largely unchanged. That was why Kirito's group was greatly surprised when they were surrounded by more than 100 wolves and falcons, an event that would never occur at this level, even during the triggering of a trap.

"Klein, keep your people close together and be careful not to get singled out." Kirito yelled to the other party in his group, as he saw Klein's guild form a tight circle. Being slightly lower in level than his party, Klein's group would be in severe danger if they got singled out, and at this point Kirito would not be able to help them.

"Agil, switch! Argo, Asuna, with me! Silica, support!" Kirito charged out towards the three wolves in front, arming a [Horizontal] with his [Anneal Blade] in his left. Streaks of light flashed by him as Silica's throwing picks impaled the mobs to the right, putting them in [Delay] as Kirito launched his attack.

A red streak appeared from the left to right, as Kirito let go of his left weapon, turning clockwise in a roundhouse fashion, his right [Knightsword] glowed white as he swung, a [Serration Wave] knocking back the three mobs. Argo took the opening, her [Double Slash] chipped away at the middle wolf, then quickly jumped back to switch out.

In an instant, a white comet dashed past Kirito, and a shower of blue streaks landed on the wolf on the left. Asuna's [Quadruple Pain] impaled the wolf, increasing the delay. "Liz!" The rapier user shouted as she jumped back, exchanging positions while a large hammer spun around, piling up multiple hits on the three wolves during its 10sec activation, shattering them into polygons.

"Another three down… there's no end to them." Lisbeth complained, dropping the hammer as she rested out the 5s skill-delay. Kirito has already dashed towards Agil, who was covering their back during the previous assault, allowing Agil to switch and pot.

"That's our Kii-bou, no stopping him…" Argo laughs as she joins in…

"But that's why Kirito-san is Kirito-san" Silica followed closely.

"Can't let him have all the glory now, let's go" Asuna said, as her rapier began glowing.

"Still, keeping up with that guy really tires me out…and dizzy " Lisbeth sighed, as she got ready to take out the next group of mobs.

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"ha… Why did we not rest at the inn?" Asuna complained, her legs collapsing as she sat down. Beside her, Lisbeth and Silica sat leaning on a nearby tree. The 100 mobs took a good hour to fend off, and at the end everyone was drained.

"Hey Kirito, how much more? We're completely beat here…" Klein sat on the ground, dropping his scimitar on the ground. Behind him Klein's guild-mates were busy helping and congratulating each other.

"Around an hour or so, but with the increased spawn rate it'll probably be two or even three... more if we get surrounded again." Kirito replied, impressed at how Klein's group performed. Despite being lower-levelled than his own group, Klein masterfully kept his guild in the green at all times, and in the uncommon occasion a member fell into the yellow, he would jump in and cover until the healing was complete.

"… and then another full day tomorrow right? Kii-bou, you didn't tell me this floor was so hard…" Argo moaned as she sat on the ground beside Kirito.

"Never thought this would tire you out… being an AGI build and all" Kirito was surprised that even Argo was getting worn out.

"Well, there's a difference between fleeing mobs while travelling, and travelling and killing the mobs that block you. My 'crit and run' style doesn't exactly work well on mobs that are higher in level." Argo spoke quietly, evidently trying to preserve the strength she had left.

"Well, there IS another way… it'll cut a good portion of a day off in time, but I'm not sure if it's the best…." Kirito suggested, and all of a sudden his collar was grabbed by a familiar rapier-user

"We're taking the shortcut!" Asuna declared with authority, as Kirito nodded in fear.

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"NO WAY! I'M NOT GOING IN THERE!" Asuna wailed loudly in disagreement, as the other girls looked on, with a slight discomfort in their eyes as well. Kirito sighed as and Klein looked eye to eye.

"Well, you're the one who forced me to suggest this route, and if you think about it there's no real difference between a ghost or a monster…" Kirito tried to explain.

"Still, ghosts and spirits are things that I do NOT want to encounter! EVER! Even as a monster!" Asuna continued to protest.

"So, what do we do now? It's too late to go back, since we've spend another hour coming here, and we can't take the cave now." Klein asked.

"Kirito, maybe there is a way to go through the mountain trails?" Agil suggested, and Kirito lowered his head in thought.

"Well, theoretically it can be done, as I remember there was a rumor about it as well. It certainly would be faster than heading back. The mobs in the mountains are more or less territorial, so if we can find a safe spot we could camp for the night, but we would definitely have to set camp inside the mountains and set up a rotating guard shift. Certainly won't be easy…" Kirito explained.

"Then it's decided, we're going to the mountains." Asuna declared, having instantly recovered from her freak attack. Kirito sighed as he got ready to continue moving.

It took another half-hour to reach the start of the mountain trail, and the group was continually getting strained. Luckily, there were minimal mob encounters, so the strain was merely mental, everyone in the group remained at full health.

"Well, this is it - uncharted territory. Can't say I'm excited though… Kii-bou?" Argo sighed, looking at Kirito.

"I'm guessing we'll be encountering mobs that are related to stone, such as golems, crawling lizards and such. Hopefully we won't be attacked from the air, but there's no guarantee at this point. Just keep your guard up, and we'll make camp once we reach the top end of the range." Kirito announced, as he started climbing the mountain.

The climb up the mountain was surprising smooth, where the most unsettling experience being when Kirito slipped and bumped into Asuna, startling her and causing to hit Kirito on instinct. A roll down the hill and another slap after, things were going steadily and uneventfully.

Within an hour, the group has set up camp in an area similar to a plateau, where there was a small opening into the mountain, and beside the opening a small stream flowed, provide an ample amount of water. The moon had also come out, providing additional lighting to the small bonfire Kirito set up.

"Ahh… nothing feels like a warm sleeping bag after a long walk." Lisbeth commented as she snuggled herself inside her sleeping bag. Beside her, inside her own sleeping bag, Asuna smiled, "You're making it such a big deal Liz. It's not like we're actually physically walking, our real bodies are still lying in bed in some hospital likely."

"Still, don't you think this feels like a long field trip? In an exotic land with different people?"

"Well… if you discount the fact that we could actually die here… and the fact that there's this weirdo leading our group…" Asuna heard Lisbeth chuckle.

"You're really not giving the guy a break are you? What are you? A primary school kid?" Lisbeth teased

"Liz! It's not like that; I'm just not used to dealing with people like him." Asuna mumbled.

"What are you two talking about?" Kirito said, as he walked over.

"NOTHING!" both girls responded in unison, and simultaneously started laughing together.

"Okay." Kirito nodded, as he turned to the other side. Seeing Klein and his group chatting away by the small bonfire he made, he decided not to interfere.

"So Kii-bou, you're going to do the first guard shift?" Argo asked, returning from her scout of the road ahead.

"Yeah, Agil and I will be the first guards, was the road ahead OK?" Kirito asked

"Surprisingly so, I suppose the mountain path was meant as a detour for those who did not want to brave the caves…" Argo suggested.

"I sure hope so." Kirito replied. "You should get some rest too, Silica's waiting for you as well." The two looked to Silica, who waving at them.

"Well, I leave my safety in your hands then. Please take care of us." Argo yawned as she summoned a sleeping bag and brought it to Silica's side. Within minutes all the girls dozed off into dreamland. Kirito looked at Klein's group, who had also gone to sleep, and then turned to his axe-wielding companion.

"So what do you think of the current situation?" Kirito asked

"You mean our mission to open the 10th floor? Or the entire issue with us being trapped in SAO?" The man answered Kirito's with another question.

"Well… I don't know… both maybe…" Kirito wasn't too sure himself.

"Or maybe you're talking about your situation with the girls, in that case… 'no comment'" Agil let out a laugh, to which Kirito frowned.

"Great, am I THAT unreliable? Anyways… let's start with SAO's issue. I think we're pretty much walking a tightrope, ever since we've cleared the 2nd floor in two days after the first. Yet here we are, nine days without much progress."

"I see what you mean, because if we succeed.. excuse me let me rephrase, **when we succeed** we would have cleared another **seven levels **in a matter of nine days. Thinking about that almost stressed me out." Agil understood what Kirito meant. "Which leads to the other question – this trip itself is also like tightrope walking… we can't make mistakes."

"And yet here we are… camped on top of a mountain, with no mobs in sight… almost seems too peaceful." Kirito expressed his concerns.

"Well… maybe it's a sign that we should relax once in a while, so that we may prepare for the roads ahead. Sit down and rest a bit." Agil said, as he sat down near the fire, and Kirito followed suit.

**[Date: December 3, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 02:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Mountain Plateau - Campsite]

Kirito, with both blades drawn, was practicing his [Sword Skills] in the small open field beside the campsite. He had almost perfected the motion of chaining his skills, using a small loophole in the system that allowed him to activate skills whenever he was holding to just one blade at a time. He remembered that Rinko once said that he would eventually possess the [Dual Blades] skill, but until then he would need to resort to this trick in order to utilize both swords effectively.

"What are you doing Kirito?" a familiar blacksmith-warrior came into Kirito's view.

"Nothing, practicing because I couldn't sleep after getting woken up." Kirito replied honestly. "What brings you here? Where's Asuna?"

"Concerned about Asuna as usual aren't you? (eh?!) haha, just joking. She's sitting there warming up by the fire, I don't even know if she's fully awake. I suppose it doesn't matter too much though, the last few shifts have been pretty quiet from what I heard." Lisbeth replied.

"Well, as Agil mentioned before, it's a good chance to rest and prepare… we've still got a ways to go, and you never know whe…." Kirito's voice is cut short when a roar shakes the mountain.

"WHAT THE!" Kirito draws both blades instinctively, as he recognizes the roar to be that of a great dragon – the most fearsome mobs in ANY game, and almost ALWAYS a field boss in SAO.

As if on cue, a giant shadow flies over Kirito and Lisbeth, and lands ahead of the two. A massive dragon twice the size of a floor boss, with wings that looked like stone, and red eyes that resembled burning magma – The Great Rock Dragon – L.25

Kirito looked behind the dragon, and noticed that Asuna had woken the other group members up. Pointing towards the way to the human town, Kirito motioned the group to run ahead, which Asuna hesitated.

"GO! NOW!" Kirito shouted, as the dragon lifted its wings, charging at Lisbeth, who was pulled away by Kirito just in the nick of time.

_This is bad, we need to find a way to buy the group some time, and then to hide._

Opening his menu, he materialized all the [Firewood] he had left, and threw it into the fire, followed by [Fire Starters], and [Flame Starting Fuel]. The fire blazed and the dragon turned back around, leaving Asuna and the main group to run into the darkness.

"Lisbeth, try to hide behind the rocks while I distract the dragon." Kirito ordered.

"NO WAY. You'll die that way, we'll run together." Lisbeth stood firm beside Kirito, raising her hammer.

"We'll both be dead at this rate."

"You don't know until we try."

Kirito sighed, his mind racing furiously.

_There's no way we can fight or even run from this dragon as long as we're in the open. Still, it's almost impossible to find shelter in this plateau. There must be somewhere we can hide… I KNOW!_

Looking at the area where a stream was flowing, Kirito saw a small crack in the ground. Sheathing his sword, he grabbed Lisbeth's hand and pulled her towards the hole.

"Wait, what are we? Kyaa!" Lisbeth screamed as she and Kirito fell into the hole, barely avoiding the dragon's claw.

"I thought I was going to di…" Lisbeth stopped complaining as she realized that Kirito's face was right in front of hers, with less than an inch between.

"Quiet.." Kirito whispered, as he looked up at the dragon's eyes, which were scanning around for the prey that had suddenly disappeared. Meanwhile, Lisbeth moved uncomfortably, as she struggled to dematerialize her hammer back into her inventory. Knowing that the dragon was nearby, neither person said a single word.

"I can't see it anymore, so maybe it left?" Kirito's broke the silence after fifteen minutes, as he tried to get out of the crevice.

"Wait.. stop… where are you touching?!" Lisbeth complained. Suddenly the ground vibrated, and a dragon's roar was heard.

"Crap… is it back?" Kirito's question was answered when he saw the dragon's red eyes, glaring at the crack. The dragon jumped into the ground, and Kirito's eyes widened.

"Uh oh… Lisbeth, hold on!" Kirito warned

All of a sudden, the ground gave away as the dragon crashed on the plateau, sending the two falling into the mountain itself. Lisbeth did not remember what happened next, apart from the last moments where she saw Kirito grab a potion and put it in her mouth, and subsequent wrap her into his arms.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx

Lisbeth opened her eyes, and slowly her vision recovered enough to see inside the dark cavern. She glanced to the top-left of her vision, and saw that her HP was in the yellow, materializing a potion, she drank it and looked around as her life-force slowly recovered.

A chilling sense overcame her body, as she realized that she was drenched in water. Reluctantly, she removed all her drenched clothes, and donned a one-piece nightgown, the same one that she used when showering with the girls on the first floor, as Kirito's rented room.

_Oh… I almost forgot about Kirito… where'd he go? _Lisbeth wondered, slightly relieved that he wasn't actually around when she was changing.

Walking around slowly, she made note that she was saved by this underground pond, which broke the landing of her (and Kirito's) fall. All of a sudden, a terrible feeling overcome Lisbeth.

_Wait… it can't be… he couldn't have… but he shielded me from the fall, and I was in the yellow._

Opening her friend's list in panic, Lisbeth breathed a sigh of relief when she saw [Kirito (online)] on her list.

_Well, that's good… all I need to do is find him._

It didn't take long to find Kirito, as he was lying in the mud on the far-side of the pond. Lisbeth quickly pulled him up to solid ground, and noted that he wasn't waking up.

_Oh no… what should I do? I wonder if resuscitation works in SAO? But I don't know what to do… but anycase, I'll need to try._

Lisbeth kneeled beside Kirito, tilted his head, and held his nose.

_All I need to do is blow in air… wait… but that would mean I'd have to…. but since he's not awake so it's not my first time and it's OK… and if I don't Kirito's going to die…. OK, I'll do it… here goes._

"_*COUGH* COUGH*_" Kirito's coughing caused Lisbeth to jump back and sit down, her face burning red in shame. She quickly held Kirito in a semi-prone position, so that he could cough up the water. Noting that his HP was in the red, she fed him a potion once he stopped coughing, and slowly his HP returned to the green.

"Kirito, are you OK?" Kirito said weakly, as Lisbeth positioned Kirito to be lying on his side, resting his head on her legs.

"Yeah… just feels like I've been freefalling too much lately… can't shake this floating feeling." Kirito's answer made Lisbeth chuckle.

"Well, looks like we survived the fall…" Lisbeth said.

"Yeah, somehow… thanks for saving me from drowning" Kirito thanked Lisbeth, as he relaxed and rested his head on Lisbeth's leg.

"Payback for shielding me from the fall, we're even." Lisbeth smiled gently

Lisbeth opened her menu, and sent a message to Asuna, telling them to move on ahead. Kirito would probably know the way out somehow, so it made sense for Asuna and the group to make as much distance away from the dragon as possible.

Suddenly, Kirito gasped a breath of air.

"What's wrong?" Lisbeth asked worriedly, as she noticed Kirito has turned his head away from her.

"I'm sorry Lisbeth, it was an accident, I didn't mean to, especially right after you saved my life…" Kirito was stuttering, an indication that he did something inappropriate. She noted his averted eyes, and quickly realized, looking at her now drenched transparent nightgown

"?!" Lisbeth jumped back as she pushed Kirito back into the water.

"I'M REALY SORRY, PLEASE FORGIVE ME LISBETH-SAMA!" Kirito apologized for the 5th time, having kneeled on the floor for over 5 minutes. In front of him, Lisbeth had donned her armor, rather bearing the cold of her drenched armor over the embarrassment of the incident that just occured.

"Well… it's not exactly your entire fault… I was also careless… but still… it's your fault…" Lisbeth tried to explain, her head still overheating, she knew it wasn't Kirito's fault, but still it was his fault. "Anyways, I'll definitely kill you if you let anyone else know about this. As a matter of fact, I want you to erase the entire incident from your memory!"

"Yes Lisbeth-sama! I'll surely forget everything that happened, I even put my memories in a shredder application so I can't even remember that I forgot." Kirito started spewing nonsense in his panicked state.

"Well, I won't force yourself to delete your memories. Just remember though, if you think about it again, I'll make you pay the consequences OK? So be ready to take responsibility if you dare." Lisbeth stuck her tongue out at Kirito, who tilted his head in confusion.

"Anyways… I'm guess we're not inside the cave that Asuna did not want to go through. Do you know your way around?" Lisbeth asked.

"Yes! Lisbeth-sama, I do not know the exact details, but I'm generally familiar with how to reach the other side." Kirito stood in a full alert stance, making Lisbeth chuckle.

"Oh come on, stop that already. (Yes! Lisbeth-sama) Oh, I know. In return for my forgiveness, I want you to do one thing. (Yes! Lisbeth-sama, I will do anything Lisbeth-sama) Stop it already, or I'll tell you to 'kill yourself' (…)" Lisbeth let out a small sigh

"From now on, call me Liz. Just like Asuna does… it's not like we're strangers or something." Lisbeth spoke softly, averting her eyes as her cheeks slightly flushed a tint of red.

"Liz-chan?" Kirito stuttered.

"No '-chan'! Just 'Liz'… I don't want you to refer me with a '-chan'" Lisbeth demanded.

"OK, I'm sorry Liz." Kirito finally said. Lisbeth walked over to Kirito, and flicked his forehead with her finger, looking at his confused expression, Lisbeth smiled.

"Good. So now that the issue is settled, let's get going." Lisbeth grabbed Kirito's arm, and pulled him down the passageway cheerfully.

The road was long, and many dangers lay in wait ahead. However, they stayed alive so far, so they'll keep staying alive for the challenges to come.

**Author's Notes:**

Finally, a chance to develop Lisbeth and Kirito's relationship a little…. Though it seems every-time there's KiriXLiz, it involves a dark cave and tight place (lolz… runs…)


	40. Risky Business

**Floor 10 - Risky Business**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 3, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 9:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Outside Human Town]

"Liz! I was so worried about you!" Asuna ran full speed to Lisbeth, and wrapped her in a hug. Kirito smiled as he met up with the rest of the group.

"Sorry for ditching you guys like that…" Klein apologized with his head down, he had done admirably, and got both groups through the mountains and the remaining forest section even though they were two players short. Nonetheless he felt guilty over the fact that he left Kirito and Lisbeth behind.

"It's all good Klein, it's was the right thing to do. Thanks for stepping up when I failed my job as a leader." Kirito gave a weak smile, as he felt it was his fault that the dragon caught them by surprise.

"What are you talking about, you didn't fail us, if anything you ensured that we all arrived safely." Klein refuted Kirito's pessimistic thoughts.

"No, it isn't Kirito-san's fault, you saved us by luring the dragon away, and you also saved Lisbeth-san." Silica added.

"Well, all's well that ends well. We finally arrived safe and sound, and Kii-bou and Liz-chan also got here without incident. Let's forget it all and get ready to celebrate." Argo quickly changed the subject.

Kirito felt better thanks to his comrades, and nodded as he joined the rest of the group, he waved to the two girls that were still embracing each other. "Hey Asuna, Liz, let's get going."

"? 'Liz'" Asuna looked at Lisbeth, noting that Kirito used to refer to her as 'Lisbeth'

"Long story…anyways, let's go before they leave us behind." Lisbeth quickly jumped away from Asuna and caught up to the group. Asuna noted that wore a cheerful smile that she never showed before, and that there was a slight blush in her freckled cheeks.

"'Liz' eh…" Asuna muttered silently, as she caught up with the group. _I'll grill you on the details later..._

**Authors Note: AKA wait until chapter 44 for the 'girls-side'**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Kirito walked in the human town of [Dixie], noting the quiet atmosphere, the NPC's walking slowly around. Looking at the worn streets and decrepit buildings, it is obvious that the town has seen better days. As Kirito walked down a particular building made him raise his eyebrows.

Looking down the street leading to the living areas of the town, a familiar five-story building stood out from the rest, its grand exterior contrasting the broken buildings around it, and it's billboard showing the name of the inn - [Perfect Ten].

Making note of the inn, Kirito continued to walk down the path to the town center, where the inactive teleport gate awaited activation.

"You know, after all this work we deserve first dibs on any quests for this level… anyone have anything they want to do first?" Kirito asked. He remembered that there were a few quests worth taking, but nothing was important enough.

"We could grab a bite and then restock before the crowd comes. Besides, we've still inform the main guilds that we have arrived at the time. It would be wise to give them time to prepare as well." Agil suggested, which Kirito quickly agreed, the others looking at him with curious expressions.

"You planned this didn't you Kirito-kun?" Asuna asked accusingly.

"So what if I did?" Kirito retorted, "Anyways, let's grab breakfast first. I know the NPC diner has a decent breakfast menu here."

"Ah.. you win, I think I'm going to grab a nap after this as well… let the other guilds handle the rest." Klein agreed

"Ah, I think breakfast would be a good idea too, don't you think so Pina?" Silica quickly agreed as well.

"Sounds good, gives me a head start on information gathering. I'm starting fresh from this level onwards anyways." Argo rubbed her claws, her eyes shining in eagerness

"Well, it's not like they're in a hurry. You guys want to repair your equipment afterwards as well?" Lisbeth asked.

"Fine, we'll wait… don't want you guys to think I'm the only leveling maniac here." Asuna finally conceded.

Sending a message to Diabel, Kirito led the group to the farmer's diner.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

What should have been just a breakfast and refit turned into a 3-hour ordeal. Kirito's group was engaged with so many trivial tasks such as checking the prices of equipment, checking for good inn spots, updating on available quest, and more trivial tasks. By the time everything was done, the sun was already at the top of the sky.

"Well, that covers everything, so we're fully ready at this point." Kirito said.

"Plus you secured yourself a full bedroom suite with a jacuzzi!" Asuna said with jealousy.

"Sorry, you can have it next week if you like." Kirito grinned as she shot Asuna a 'I win' look.

"Or you can just lend her your bathroom, just like la…." Argo was silenced by Asuna's hand, as she dragged her off to the side.

"?" Silica asked innocently.

"Probably another one of Kirito's 'special encounters', lucky guy" Klein complained, as he looked around the girls averted their eyes.

"Anyways, Kirito, would you mind doing the honors?" Agil motioned Kirito to activate the gate. As Kirito put his hand on the gate, it glowed, and the blue portal activated. Kirito and his group waited as the gate stabilized, eagerly awaiting the arrival of its first customer.

A boy with brown hair and brown eyes stepped through the gate, who was neither Diabel, Lynd, or Kibaou.

"Coper!" Kirito exclaimed, as he quickily stepped over.

"I figured the crazy suicidal swordsman would be you… I'm shocked that you're alive." Coper spoke harshly to Kirito.

"And I never thought the 'survivor' would be the first crazy guy to step through the gate to a new uncharted level." Kirito retorted, as he raised his fist.

"Heh." Coper laughed as he met Kirito's fist with his own. "I'm here so that the players coming over don't get themselves killed easily. I may not be as strong as you, but I got to the 10th floor in the beta as well you know."

"That's great to know, especially since you're probably going to help keeps the players alive here right?" Kirito easily read through Coper's intentions of coming here.

"You bet I am, don't even thing for a second that I was worried about you, or that I wanted to congratulate you for being the first to the level, and Cardinal forbid that I'd have to thank you again."

Kirito laughed, as Coper stepped to the side, the blue portal fluxed again, and four figures appeared.

Coming out first was the leader of the first floor raid, the blue-haired knight Diabel. Wearing a well-polished steel armor, he walked slowly in front of the two that followed him. On the left was the man with the spiked hairdo, and on the right a plainly dressed man who Kirito recognized to be the person in charge of the magazine 'MMO Today' in real life.

Moving his glance onto the other side, Kirito noted the last member, who was the leader of the second group of clearers, the leader of the Divine Dragon Alliance, Lynd. Lynd nodded at Kirito, who smiled and nodded back.

"Thanks for preparing the arrangements on the other side." Kirito spoke to Diabel, as he shook his hand.

"No problem, what we did is nothing compared to the dangers that your group faced." Diabel replied. "So I suppose we'll follow the usual procedure."

"Yes, and this time, make sure that all the players are aware that until they reach level 15, there is a chance that a single hit can kill them." Kirito warned.

"We'll definitely make sure." Diabel smiled awkwardly "To be honest, I just reached 15 this morning, and Lynd yesterday night, so it looks we'll be hanging around the safe areas for a while until we catch up."

"I'm confident you guys will be able to keep order, at least better than I will ever be able to." Kirito let out a laugh, turning to Coper. "Right?"

"…" Kirito's question was met with silence, though he intuitively knew that was Coper's way of accepting his request.

Diabel observed Kirito and Coper's interaction with interest, then continued talking to Kirito.

"Though it may seem a bit late, but let me introduce you to the other leaders of the clearing group. I'm sure you've met with Lynd-san, leader of the Divine Dragon Alliance."

"A little belated, but nice to meet you" Kirito shook Lynd's hand, replying with "The pleasure's all mine."

"I'm sure you've met Kibaou-san already. Last but not least, our guild leader - Thinker-san"

Kirito turned to Thinker, who warmly shook Kirito's hand.

"Nice to meet you Kirito-kun, I thank you for your efforts so far. I know it doesn't mean much, but understand that many appreciate all the work you've done in the shadows, most of us are alive partially due to your efforts." Thinker thanked Kirito wholeheartedly, which caused Kirito to blush from the embarrassment.

"It's not true, I couldn't have done anything without the help of my comrades." Kirito replied, "Besides, I obtained a great deal of information during the beta through the magazine [MMO Today], so in a way I owe you greatly as well."

Thinker paused in surprise, as he realized that Kirito knew of him in real life.

"I'm sure you're actively helping new players by distributing information as we go along, so if you need anything please send me a message. Also, if you have time later I'd like to introduce you to Argo." Kirito pointed to Argo, who waved back.

Ignoring Kibaou, who was now fuming with veins popping on his forehead, Kirito spoke to Diabel.

"Well, I'll leave it to you then, please take care of the players." Kirito said.

"Will do. Klein-san, Asuna-san, could you line up your groups as we prepare the ceremony?" Diabel started to line the group of clearers, as they prepared for the arrival of new players to the town.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx

**[Date: December 3, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Outside Dixie]

As expected, the opening celebrations and meeting for the 10th floor took much longer than anything previous. Players were overjoyed that finally a tenth of the game had been cleared, and yet there was the concern that the level range had fallen significantly behind.

Luckily, nobody had left the exit of the town, most of the players stopped by the guard members situated at the town exit. Kirito silently complimented Thinker's organization abilities, and how he kept ahead of the players' mindset. Thanks to the arrangements he was able to avoid the ceremony, and get in a solid two hours of solo leveling. As the [Level up!] message popped up, Kirito finally caught up with the 10-level safety margin, a staple that would become the unspoken rule of survival in SAO. Returning to town, he met up with his companions, who looked visibly tired.

"Good work!... uh… what happened?" Kirito asked.

"Let's just say that you'd be SAO's 'most wanted' if people found out about you. Asuna just got herself a new fan club." Klein said, as Asuna let out a loud sigh.

"The last thing I need it a group of guys harassing me day and night. Leveling is hard enough already as it is…" Asuna complained.

"Well, it'll really help the front lines if you could keep a loyal group of people with you. It'd keep the clearing momentum alive, especially after you show them how good you are."

"…" Asuna fell silent.

"That's not all Kii-bou, rumor are that fan-clubs have started for Liz-chan, Silica-chan, and even me. Kyaa! Onee-san is surprised." Argo let out a fake laugh, which made Kirito want to facepalm.

"So Kirito, you'd better be careful from now on." Klein laughed, as Kirito tilted his head.

"Anyways, after such a tiring day, it's time for a good bath. Kirito-kun, you're lending us your room again. This time, do NOT come back until we message you!" Asuna commanded.

Kirito gulped, remembering the last time he got beaten to a pulp because Argo pushed him through the door. At this point he really regretted renting the room for an entire week.

"Fine… take your time. Argo, would you mind going last, I'd like you to meet someone." Kirito led the group to his rented room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx

The meeting with Thinker went well, and he agreed to help Argo with information gathering and distribution, in exchange for free information from Argo. Kirito was glad at the outcome, and had also added Thinker to his lists of friends.

"Well, that went well." Argo said

"Thinker's a remarkably good person," Kirito commented, "I'm glad he's in charge of the Aincrad Liberation Force, the group is growing pretty large, and a level-headed person would be perfect to lead them."

"Well, I don't know about that. That Kibaou guy's pretty troublesome, and he's got quite a few friends in the guild as well. There's a good chance it'll end up in one big power struggle." Argo pointed out.

"Oh well, I'll let Diabel handle that problem, my interference will probably make it worse." Kirito resigned, "By the way, if you have time could you see if you can find anything about the smuggling quest that I told you about earlier. I have a feeling that the quest is quite large, and may be significant for players."

"Hehehe…. Will you be paying up front? Or should I charge you after I have all the information that you NEED?" Argo grinned under her hood.

Kirito took a minute to think, paying up front would probably be the best solution, but at this point he was completely broke because he was upgrading equipment.

"I'll pay you later… just go easy on me OK?" Kirito pleaded, to which Argo laughed.

"Of course, I'll go easy on the price, but you're going to owe me then…"

"Nevermind, I'll gladly pay full price." Kirito quickly took back his pleas, the risk of an IOU was much too high.

"Ah… you said it… deal!" Argo laughed, and quickly disappeared into the alleyway.

"DOH!"

Irritated that he fell for Argo's trap, Kirito stomped outside town towards the leveling area. He could probably have to pay for that information dearly, so he might as well save up.

Feasting on the [Baby Falcons] outside the area, Kirito noted that his [Anneal Blade] was probably at the end of its useful lifespan, the durability reaching critical. Earlier he had to complete the mission, so he didn't pay attention, but now that he was farming mobs, he noticed that the [Knightsword] was dealing twice the damage per hit.

_Well, I suppose it's time we part ways, thanks for saving my life so many times in the last month. Here's our last run together._ Kirito spoke to the blade, as he got back into the ready position.

Kirito had leveled for another two hours, before the durability of the blade hit single digits. Putting the blade back in its sheath, Kirito put the blade back into his inventory.

_I'll see you again, partner._

Turning back, Kirito headed back to the town, when suddenly a message popped up.

[Asuna: Kirito-kun, is Argo with you? She hasn't come to take a bath yet. I tried contacting her, but no response.]

Kirito opened his friends menu, and tried to send a message to Argo, getting the same result as Asuna. Pressing the 'locate friend' button, he received an error – something that he never received.

_That's weird, normally it at least tells me what level she's at._

Walking back into town, Kirito activated the 'track friend' ability, but as expected it was too long ago since Argo was in the area.

_Guess I'll look for her the old fashioned way…_

Going down the alleys in town, Kirito used the 'track friend' button occasionally to see if he could locate Argo's whereabout. After half-an-hour though, he gave up as most of the areas had been searched.

"Where could she be?" Kirito spoke to himself.

Suddenly, a familiar message popup appeared, another message.

Opening the message, Kirito froze in silence.

[Argo: HELP! CAUGHT! QUICK!]


	41. The Darkness

**Floor 10 - The Darkness**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**_I'LL BE ON A PLANE FOR THE NEXT 20'ISH HOURS, NO GUARANTEE ON UPDATES._**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 3, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 14:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Dixie – Living Area]

Donning her cape and hiding her face under the hood, Argo quickly maneuvered the living area of Dixie, passing through the dark alleyways and houses unnoticed – her [Hiding] skill allowed her to bypass detection from the mobs and NPCs.

Approaching the back of the building that she was tasked to investigate, Argo surveyed the area. There were minimal guards, and no signs of activity was shown through the [Tracking] skill. In other words, there was rarely traffic in this area.

Slowly coming out from behind the building, Argo carefully walked along the wall, making sure not to draw unwanted. The streets were relatively quiet at this time, and it was very difficult for Argo to move without making a sound.

Reaching the back of the building, Argo examined the general construction of the building. Apart from the main door, there were no other exits to the building, and the windows themselves were too small. In other words, without a backdoor in the basement, it would be impossible for anyone to escape without passing through the main doors.

Argo sighed… she didn't like to infiltrate buildings that did not have at least two escape routes, but at the same time she did not want to break his promise with Kirito. Feeling the wall with her hands, Argo accidently pressed on a brick, and a small dungeon door opened.

Sneaking inside the hidden basement, Argo looked around, noting several independent prison cells, and one that had a table on it. The table had a white cloth, with possible blood stains on one side of the bench. On the other side, two half-rings extruded form the table, allowing the rings to lock when needed.

_So this is some sort of torture chamber?_

Walking further inwards, Argo heard mumbled cries for help. She quickly rushed to the source of the voices, and saw a cage full of prisoners. The girls were barely clothed, and each one had their wrists and ankles chained, restraining their movement.

Argo frowned as she observed the prisoners, they looked to be around the same age as her, around fifteen, and all of them were of the human-race. Luckily, none of them worn a player icon over their heads. Looking at the lock, Argo took out a pick and attempted to pick it.

"Look what we have here? Our newest guest?" A stranger's voice spoke into Argo's ear.

Surprised, Argo dodged to the other side, as she felt her back being hit with a weapon. She collapsed as she saw her HP go into the yellow, and a paralysis status appeared. Unable to cry for help, she watched helplessly as a large bat filled her vision.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx

Argo opened her eyes to a pop-up message. [Quest (U) Started – Damsel in Distress], the message quickly woke her up. Looking around, she found herself in one of the prisoner rooms, and in the cell beside hers she heard the sounds of muffled screams though a curtain stopped her from seeing what was happening.

She looked to hands, and noted they were chained together, and a long chain extended to the ceiling. Following down, she noted her clothes had become a rag, probably the same that the other prisoners were wearing, and that her legs were chained also. Her HP bar was in the red, but the paralysis status was now gone.

Quickly opening up the menu, she accessed her friends list, and sent a message to Kirito – the only one that might be able to guess her predicament.

[To Kirito: HELP! CAUGHT! QUICK!]

Suddenly, her chains were jerked upwards, and her hands were raised up to the ceiling. Barely able to stand, Argo struggled to stay on her tips of her toes. She noted that the screaming in the cell beside hers had subsided, and she watched an elf wearing dark clothing come in.

"So, our beauty has woken up, must say you look much better without those marks of yours. Nice of you to volunteer to become our slave." The NPC elf licked his lips, and looked at Argo with a sly smile.

"Thought you could free all the ladies over there didn't you? Thought you were [Hiding] and couldn't be seem… well too bad, we knew this was going to happen. The moment you touched the lock, your fate had been sealed."

"You see those girls, they're all ready to be shipped out and put to service. As for you, you'll need to be prepared and trained a little first." The elf took out a knife, and lightly cut at Argo's dress, causing red sparks to fly into the air. Fear hit Argo heavily, as she stared at her HP bar, which luckily did not diminish.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you, as much as I'd like to. My boss ordered me to save the fun part for him, though I'll get the pleasure to watch. After he's done with you though, I'll get my turn… oh and since I'm a nice guy, I'll let you know in advance what's in store for you." The elf grinned evilly as he removed the curtain obstructing the neighboring cell.

The resulting scene sent a wave of fear into Argo's mind, and she bit her lips to prevent her from letting out a scream. Tied to the bench was one of the female prisoners, with her arms cuffed to the table. Her rags had pretty much been torn to shreds from the beating she received, countless whip marks were visible, and blood was dripping from her wounds. Watching the girl twitch from the aftermath of the torture, Argo barely held back her impulse to vomit.

"Don't worry, she'll have tons of time to recover. By the time she reaches our customers, she'll be begging for their comfort. You'll do the same soon too, if you don't want a second beating." The elf laughed manically.

Argo looked at the other prisoner, even though it was merely an NPC character, she could not stand the sight of the condition that she was in. She dreaded the eventual fate that would bestow her own body.

_If this was a player, at least I could use the 'Ethical Code Protection' against him, but this elf is a mob, and this area is marked as a dungeon. If I undergo that torture, my HP…_

Argo's thoughts were broken, as the heavy footsteps of another mob were heard. An elf that was stronger built than the previous one walked in front of Argo, and on top of its head showed a description – [The Punisher] – Level 20.

The Punisher brandished a large dagger, a green haze shining on the blade. Argo held her breath as the elf approached her.

"This toy here will enhances your sense of touch, and make this SOOO much enjoyable… hehehe… at least for me that is." The mob declared as Argo opened her widened her eyes. "Here… let me show you."

Intense pain shot through Argo's body, as the Punisher lightly pricked Argo's restrained arm with the dagger. Apparently bypassing the system pain reduction, Argo felt the blade as it made a small cut on her delicate skin.

"Boss, should we be more careful? This one might die if we don't let it hea..." The other elf was silenced by the Punisher, a slash that cut the mob from head to toe. Argo was shocked at the events, and was unable to make a sound.

"I alone will decide… besides, a product that can't enjoy pain is useless to our clients. This one must learn the beauty of pain and ecstasy, just like the others that have survived." The punisher gave a wicked grin, and Argo could almost see the bottomless pit of darkness inside its eyes.

_I can't move, the chains must have some sort of paralyzing effect… _Argo eyed the paralysis icon on her status screen, as she watched her HP that was hovering around the 10% range, her [Battle Healing] had activated due to the damage of the dagger, but it would not be able to sustain her health against a mob that was several levels higher than her.

She looked in horror as the elf raised his hand in the air, and the dagger glowed red. It slashed across Argo's chest, emitting a streak of red, followed a shattering sound that chimed in the air.

"Oh, oops, guess I missed and tore your clothes apart, I won't miss again." The mob evilly announced, as tears started forming in Argo's eyes.

"Don't worry, this will only hurt a lot…" The Punisher walked close to Argo, this time taking his time to deliberately position his dagger in front of her.

*creak* the sound a door opening went unnoticed, as both parties were engaged in a silent ritual, feeling the despair build up to a climax

The Punisher's evil eyes petrified Argo, as she was unable to see anything other than his wicked grin, as well as the dagger that was going to slice her open.

_Oh no, I don't want to die, not like this! Someone help me! KIRITO!_

"HAAA!" A loud voice echoed on the dungeon walls as a white glow streaked on The Punisher's exposed back.

Turning around the elf faced the intruder, who retracted his glowing white sword and held it behind the black sword. There was no overly exaggerated emotion on his face, but his killing intent was overwhelming.

"Let… HER… GO!" Kirito shouted, as he lunged at the Punisher, both blades held over his head striking the elf.

The elf charged forwards, and blocked Kirito's black blade with the dagger, sidestepping the silver one as his other hand glowed red. Kirito instinctively jumped backwards to avoid the glowing punch that otherwise would have knocked him backwards.

"Ah, another sacrificial lamb, and just as I was feeling down because there was no audience. I'm sure you would have enjoyed watching your companion as I teach her all about pain." The elf snickered.

Kirito stared coldly at the elf. Behind him Argo's avatar was covered in a fog and only her face was visible, possibility due to the 'Ethics Code Protection'. Needless to say, she must have been subjected to a treatment that was far from comfortable.

"Oh… not feeling talkative are you? Maybe if I give you some of this you'll also feel like screaming" The elf laughed, waving his dagger in front of him as if showing off.

Kirito quickly tried to recall the movements of a rapier-wielding companion of his, her moves would be much more effective in a narrow space than his. However, do to the nature of the weapon he would not be able to emulate her moves well.

_There's hardly any space to maneuver in the dungeon, and it's definitely impossible to dodge to the left or right. I'll have to dodge with minimal movement, and strike him when he presents an opening, allowing me to take advantage of my reach._

Pushing off with his left, Kirito launched into a [Rage Spike], allowing the system assist to increase his speed and close in to his enemy. Sparks flew as his knightsword collided with the elf's dagger. Focusing on his left hand, his [Dark Anneal Blade] glowed, as Kirito initiated a slant, leaving a mark across the elf's chest.

"Ha.. you call that a slash?" The elf snickered, and lunged forward, Kirito barely managed to avoid the dagger, but his body was knocked back several steps. Looking at the elf's HP, Kirito was surprised that its HP bar did not diminish. His initial strike dealt critical damage, and took a good 40% off the elf's HP, but for some odd reason the second strike barely did damage.

"Die!" The elf lunged forward, taking advantage of Kirito's momentary pause, his dagger glowing red as it drew an arc. Kirito instinctively parried it with his sword, but he could not prevent the elf from closing in. A kick disturbed Kirito's form, and he raised his dark blade desperately to block the elf's next attack.

*shatter*

Kirito watched as his [Dark Anneal Blade +8] shatter from the hilt up, as the elf's dagger drew a cross in front of his eyes. He felt a pain in arm as he fell backwards.

"How do you like my [Snake Bite]? You're dead now that you've lost your weapon advantage." The elf announced coldly as he took a step back. "… and now that you've had a taste of my [Pain of Fear], you'll enjoy every next stab that I take at you. Don't worry, I'll make each cut slowly, and you'll feel every bit."

Kirito winced as he felt the pain jolting from his left shoulder. The poison from the blade had enhanced his sense of pain, and Kirito fought to retain his concentration. Holding his sword in defensive position, he prepared for the enemy's strike, which didn't happen. Looking at the elf, it was looking down at Kirito, as if gloating about its assured victory.

"You're probably wondering why that previous strike didn't hurt me right? That's because I've been selected by the darkness. Everything about me, my armor, my dagger, and my body are enhanced by the power of death." The elf has a vicious grin as he admired his body. "You had me there with that surprise attack of yours, but once I'm in a fight nobody can hurt me. And as soon as we complete our ritual we will become unstoppable."

Kirito realized that the mob was undergoing a quest explanation, and quickly took the time to down a potion. There was no point attacking the elf right now, as it was temporarily an [Immortal Object], and attacking it would open himself to counterattack. Kirito looked at his shattered [Anneal Blade], and returned it to his inventory.

_Still, this quest seems abnormal. Not something that the Kayaba that I knew would come up with._

"As we speak, my brothers are assembling other sacrifices to offer to our savior. We will remove every last ounce of hope and innocence from them, and replace it with lust and despair…. Haha… they will make tasty treats to our great lord…" Kirito watched in silence, holding back the rage that was building. The elf's eyes had turned red, and a dark cloud began to emit from his body.

_This quest is definitely abnormal, but whatever. I'll need to focus, otherwise I won't even have a chance to worry about 'later'._

Kirito put both hands onto the hilt of his [Queen's Knightsword], and calmed his rage. He tuned out his surroundings, the background of the dungeon, even his companion who was chained to the wall. All that he saw was the short dagger that was going to take his life, and image of the enemy he needed to strike down.

"Ha!" Kirito lunged forwards, and stabbed his sword towards the elf's face. The sword was parried as a dagger swing sideways, deflect the sword to the left… quickly turning his wrist, Kirito lifted his sword diagonally to the right, then back down for another quick slash, forcing the elf to block again.

"Che!" The elf spat as he was forced on the defensive. "If that's the case then I'll use the gi.." His speech was cut short as Kirito darted past him, landing an elbow strike that sent him staggering backwards towards the other end of the dungeon. Standing between the elf and Argo, Kirito announced silently as he held his sword above his hand with both arms

"I'll never let you harm her again." Kirito lunged at the elf, who managed to regain his composure in time to block Kirito's blade with his dagger, locking the two in a standstill.

"Still, you won't be able to defeat me, the darkness that I've been given cannot be cut by lowly humans with no way of dispelling magic." The elf laughed, even as Kirito drove him on one knee.

"Really? We'll see about that." Kirito replied as he continued landing consecutive strikes on the elf's dagger, a movement that he had long abandoned since he gave up kendo years ago.

"_Men!_" Kirito roared as he broke the elfs defenses, sending him staggering back with a [Stun], immediately Kirito dropped his two hand-form, and his blade glowed in a blinding white.

"Meteor…" Six consecutive slashes carved the body of the elf, as Kirito let go of his sword and closed to the elf.

"BREAK!" Kirito's punch hit the elf like a ramming post, and the elf flew into the dungeon wall, smashing a hole in the concrete.

"Impossible, a human can't possibly defeat my darkness…" The elf's dying words were cut short, as a glowing white sword impaled his heart.

"You're correct, but you underestimate the power of light inside this sword." Kirito spoke silently, as he turned to his companion.

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Argo blushed feverishly as Kirito walked up to her.

"Don't look at me" she said weakly, her voice trailing away in embarrassment as she tried to turn away to hide her naked body.

"I can't, the 'Ethical Code Protection', remember?" Kirito replied softly as he undid Argo's chains. Letting her down from her captivity, he materialized a robe and put it over her shoulders.

"Ahahaha… I guess I screwed up big time didn't I Kii-bou?" Argo laughed, trying to hide her true feelings.

Kirito suddenly wrapped his arms around Argo, and she felt her knees collapse as she fell into his arms.

"It's alright, everything's alright now." Kirito coaxed, as Argo's tears began to flow…

"WAAAA! I was sooo scared… I didn't want to die… but I couldn't do a thing…" Argo lost herself in a torrent of emotions, and cried loudly as Kirito silently held her in his arms.

"It's OK, I'm here… don't worry…" Kirito gently brushed Argo's hair, as he calmly waited for her cries to subside.

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**[Date: December 3, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 19:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Dixie – Kirito's room]

Kirito finished typing up his message to Asuna, explaining the details of what had happened. He glossed over the details about Argo, since she probably didn't want others to know about it, and focused on the notion of the quest.

Behind him, Argo had taken a shower, and was wearing a white one-piece, drinking a hot chocolate with a bath-towel wrapped over her head. Kirito noticed that Argo had a really cute face without her makeup, but he decided that he should keep that thought buried. Coincidently, Kirito's gaze met up with hers, and the two looked away awkwardly.

"So, Kii-bou has not heard of anything like a unique quest before either?" Argo asked hesitantly as she drank the chocolate, having calmed down greatly in the last few hours.

"No, I was under the impression that 'unique quests' were unfair to a game, and didn't expect them to exist at all. Though considering the unique nature of SAO, it is possible that such events would occur." Kirito reasoned, though he was still surprised at the scripts of the NPC.

_Even if the quest was unique, I don't understand why Kayaba would program an AI script to actively torment a player as such… especially when it was possible that the player would have ended up dead. Kayaba may be a sick-minded genius, but I can tell that he does not take pleasure in torturing people until they die._

"Kii-bou, are you alright?" Argo's voice brought him back to reality, as he looked at the girl staring at him nervously.

"I'm alright, just trying to make sense of things. Sorry for bring up the topic again…" Kirito apologized. "Are you feeling a little better? It must have been a bad experience for you, sorry for causing you to experience it."

"… It's not Kii-bou's fault… well yes it is… but you saved me in the end so it's OK. I just need a bit of time…" Argo sat down beside Kirito, and placed her head on his shoulder… "Just a little more time…"

Kirito sat in silence as he observed a side of Argo he never knew about. He had always known Argo to be strong and independent, and that she had a way out of any and every situation or danger. Seeing her like this made Kirito realize that something that he had somehow forgot – the fact that Argo was a girl as well.

_I guess if there's one thing that hasn't changed, it's the fact that I'm still dense as a brick… _Kirito scolded himself for his insensitivity, as he watched the girl beside him drift off into sleep.

**Author Notes:** I've always wanted to do an Argo chapter… though the chance never came up.. well, here it is, I trying hard not to make this into a romcom though so don't expect too much mushiness. (One day I'll try my hand for a KiriXArgo oneshot… maybe…)

Next chapter will be a little more relaxing… as we go a little deeper into this 'unique quest' issue…

**PS:**

Re-reading this, it almost looks R-rated… but fear not… it's still relatively safe, due to the 'Ethical Code Protection'.. lol…

Read into the torture scene as much as you want.. but I only mean to describe physical and maybe mental torture.. the other stuff won't be covered.


	42. Whimsical Wanderer and the Stray Cats

**Floor 10 - Whimsical Wanderer and the Stray Cats**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 4, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 8:30]

Location: [10th Floor – Dixie – Kirito's Room]

Argo woke up to the rays of sunlight shining on her eyes, the over-bright effect causing her surroundings to slowly fade into view. She lightly pushed off the blanket that was snugly keeping her warm, and noticed someone grabbing her right hand. Snapped out of her sleepy mode, she saw a black haired boy kneeling by the side of her bed, holding her hand with his own as he fell asleep.

Argo's face lit up red as she recalled the events of the day before, and she gently smiled as she observed the boy.

_Silly boy, to think you'd go that far without taking advantage of the situation, you really are dense. _Argo chuckled inside, then sighed. _Then again, I'm also an idiot for not taking advantage of the situation either… but it's OK… Onee-san is recharged now.. thanks Kii-bou_

Leaning over, Argo held Kirito's hands as she lightly pressed her lips to his forehead. Then she loosened his grip as she got up.

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"?!"

Kirito jumped as he awoke, just being woken from an odd dream where he was caught in a kendo match with his late-grandfather. He had been locked in a defensive position, while his grandfather kept dealing him overhand strikes. Finally he lost his form as his grandfather shinai slammed on his forehead.

"Ah, Kii-bou, good morning." Argo's voice greeted the half-awake boy, who was still trying to grasp the situation.

"Oh, morning Argo… uh… what you are you doing?" Kirito recognized the girl, who was donning an apron and looked like she was making something.

"How could you? You mean you forgot about everything yesterday?" Argo faked an embarrassed smile, as she continued. "You were a complete beast yesterday, I couldn't even stand after you we were done last night. You see? My legs are still shivering from yesterday…" Argo lifted her skirt slightly.

"Oh…" Kirito sat down, recalling the events from yesterday. As Argo set down a drink on the counter, Kirito sighed and said… "I'm glad"

Argo stiffened up at the remark, though she continued to tease Kirito "so… you were worried about Onee-san weren't you.. don't worry, I'm as good as new.. thanks to Kirito last night. *nudge*"

Kirito gave a warm smile, and took a sip of the drink. "WA! What is this?!"

"Haha… it's my secret mix. Guaranteed to revitalize you, especially after a long session of exercise. Oh, and sorry about the apron, I didn't want to get my skirt dirty, and you'll need more points to get the 'hadaka apron' bonus…" Argo pranced around energetically, as Kirito watched her with a smile on his face.

_Good, she's back to being the Argo I've known._

"Hey, Kii-bou, let's go… the gang's probably waiting." Argo said, as she opened the door, put her robe on, and walked out, Kirito following slowly behind.

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"So, you're saying that there's a quest that could endanger the players' lives" Asuna summarized as Kirito and Argo told them of the encounter. The others sipped their drinks, as they finished their breakfast at the diners.

"Pretty much, and apparently there's a chance of this happening at any of the towns on this floor, if not more." Kirito confirmed.

"The mobs are also really high level, this quest probably will lead to the floor boss or something like that. Since the Elvin backdrop should end with this floor." Argo added.

"In this case, wouldn't it be best to complete the quest as a complete floor party? It would increase our chances?" Lisbeth suggested, to which Kirito rejected.

"I'm not entirely sure that we want to do that. The quest involves travelling to many dangerous areas, and I don't want to risk other players that aren't sure of what they're getting into. Plus, there's the issue about the secret skills…" Kirito trailed off.

"So I suppose it'll become our business again, won't it?" Klein finished dealt the last blow.

"Sorry…" Kirito held his head down, to which the party laughed.

"I'm starting to see why you enjoy partying with Kirito now… he's an event magnet." Agil commented, while taking a sip of his coffee. "It's going to take a while clearing this game, but I think I can manage if this guy's creating a ruckus all the time."

"Anyways, the first thing that we'll have to do is to confirm that no more players get involved with the kidnappings; Then we'll have to find a way to smuggle ourselves into the enemy lair; Finally we'll clear the enemy hideout and clear the floor." Asuna lay out a quick-and-dirty gameplan.

"Actually, we've already confirmed the first part, and figured out the second." Argo interrupted. The party turned to Argo, who continued.

"Yesterday after The Punisher died, three objects were obtained by Kirito, the dagger [Pain of Fear], a [Ring of Darkness], and this." Argo materialized a roll of parchment, an activated it.

_Once the sacrifices have been filled with darkness, bring them to the [Dunes of Despair], they will be sacrificed, and we will proceed to our next step._

"So once we're ready, we will have to enter the [Dunes of Despair], and destroy the enemy base?" Klein asked.

"It will probably be more of a covert operation, judging from the way the quest has been formed. We will need to enter undetected, then attack only when the moment is right. At least that's what a standard RPG quest would have us do." Kirito elaborated on the quest

"At this time, the prisoner NPC's inside the dungeon have stopped at the dialogue 'Do you wish for us to help you rescue the others?'. It is likely that we will have those NPC's to support us during the raid, though we will also need to have our members mixed in." Argo added.

"In short, we're at the point where we'll have time to prepare, then strike when we're ready right?" Asuna asked, to which Kirito and Argo nodded. "In that case, we'll get started. Let's get everyone leveled so we can clear this floor."

"I'll go and see if I can dig up any extra information. I'll be careful this time so I don't worry Kii-bou too much.." With that, Argo disappeared out of the door

"I'll be grabbing my guild and see if we can grab some new players to increase our party. We never know when we'll need extra manpower." Klein got up, and left with Agil.

"If anyone needs repairs and new equipment, send me a message OK?" Lisbeth finished her drink, and as she got up Kirito stopped her.

"Liz, do you have a moment? I want you to see if you could fix my sword." Kirito asked, materializing the broken [Dark Anneal Blade] and putting it on the table. Lisbeth picked up the blade, and observed it carefully.

On the side, Asuna looked at Silica, and silently the two left the diners.

"I'm sorry, it looks like she's reached the end." Lisbeth replied, with a slight tinge of sadness in her eyes.

"It's OK, I expected as much," Kirito took back the sword, put it on the table and opened the submenu. Pressing the 'absorb' button on the embedded [Orb of Darkness], he said

"Farewell, partner, we'll meet again."

The dark blade dissipated into a fog of dark particles, and condensed into an orb shape. Putting the orb back into his inventory, Kirito turned to Lisbeth.

"So, want to help me find materials for the next sword?"

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**[Date: December 6, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 10:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Outside Dixie]

Kirito continued to level solo in the fields outside of Dixie, taking down one mob at a time, it had been a while since he had to level on his own, and it was a refreshing change after constantly partying for the last month. Oddly, something felt off inside of him, as he noticed he had nobody to talk to after defeating a mob.

Two days after the last strategic meeting, unfortunately things did not go as planned, or rather things went too smoothly. With the guidance of Coper and Diabel's groups, many of the new players quickly learned about the dangers of the new level. Large farming groups formed, and soon all the decent leveling spots around town were taken. This however, meant that the level advantage that Kirito's group had was quickly diminishing.

To compound the effects, due to the fan-clubs that formed recently, Asuna and Silica were constantly occupied with leading partying groups, farming mobs that were just outside the town area – which were inefficient for their level. Lisbeth had also created a following, with an increasing number of customers that went to her for weapons and upgrades - at this rate she might even be able to open a shop somewhere down the road.

Klein's group had been faring slightly better, having formed a 12-person farming party, with the seven core players (Agil, Klein, and his 5 guild-mates) guiding five newer players. In a matter of two days both Klein and Agil obtained level 18, overtaking Asuna's group in terms of level.

Argo continued to be elusive as ever, providing players with the necessary information to stay alive. Unfortunately no extra information was uncovered though, despite her best efforts. Kirito made an effort to see Argo at least once over the last two days, and was relieved to see her as energetic as usual.

Finally deciding to take a break, Kirito returned his [Queen's Knightsword] and walked back to town, he still needed to replace his broken [Anneal Blade], but that would have to wait until better materials were available. In the meantime Kirito had a [ longsword 2S2D] as his backup.

Deciding on his destination, Kirito entered the teleport gate.

"Teleport, Misty Forest"

As Kirito's view of Dixie town was replaced with one of green undergrowth, he heard shouts and the sound of metal clashing. Quickly recognizing that it came from deep within the forest, he drew his blade and ran towards the depths.

Reaching the source of the sounds, an opening in the forest, he was met with the sight of a familiar mob – [Elder Treant]. Spreading its branches, it was fighting a group of players who, Kirito felt, should not be at this fighting at this floor.

Tanking the Treant was a mace and shield user, who was almost in the yellow range, and behind him a two-handed staff user and a dagger wielding player alternated their attacks on the mob. Behind them two spear-users occasionally hit the Treant, stopping it from advancing on the party.

Unfortunately, the party relied on the mace user to defend against the Treant, and the formation would collapse once the mace user sustained enough damage. Worse, the Treant had a special attack – [Pollen Cloud], that would destroy the formation in an instant.

Kirito widened his eyes as the Treant raised all its branches – the promotion for its special attack. Running out of the bushes, he shouted to the players.

"MOVE BACK RIGHT NOW!"

Luckily, the group of players swiftly moved back, and was not caught in the flume that encompassed the area in front of the tree. Kirito saw that the group was well trained in falling back in an orderly fashion, perhaps the result of having practiced many times. Stepping to the group, he spoke to the staff user.

"Is everybody alright?" to which the staff-user replied

"Thanks for the warning, we never thought we would encounter a mob like this here."

Kirito looked at the Treant, it had around 40% HP left, and had just used its most dangerous attack.

"Do you want to continue fighting it? I can tank the mob for a bit if you'd like." Kirito said to the surprised staff-user.

"You will? That's be great, we'll do our best!" The staff-user shouted to his party, and even Kirito felt the morale boost that just occurred.

Jumping up front, Kirito drew his blade and parried the Treant's attacks. He was not worried about the special attack as it had a very long cooldown of 5 minutes – by then the Treant would be gone. Trying not to damage the mob, he did his best to force the mob to leave openings for counterattack.

Within a minute, under the constant attacks of the group Kirito encountered, the Elder Treant burst into polygons. Instantly the group erupted into cheers, and the members began to congratulate themselves. Kirito was both amused and relieved that the group was so eager after winning such a trivial fight.

Turning to Kirito, the group came and each one of the members heartily shook Kirito's hands, the most emotional one being the only female – a black haired spear-user.

"Thank you... Thank you so much. I was really afraid... when you came to our rescue, I was really happy. I truly appreciate your help." The girl thanked Kirito, as he noticed the tears in her eyes.

Kirito smiled, he too felt happy that he was able to prevent a group of players from meeting their demise. It was not a significant achievement, but he felt every little time helps.

The staff-user then came to Kirito, "Uh… this is sort of embarrassing, but would you mind partying with us until we reach the exit? Our supplies have gone low from that boss mob…"

Kirito nodded his head, "I was thinking of the same thing, pots are expensive nowadays, so it's cheaper to party and decrease the damage, would you like me to assist with forward support?"

The player paused for a second as he processed Kirito's blatant white lie, then his expression brightened immediately. "Really, thank you very much! Oh, my name's Keita by the way… nice to meet you!"

"Likewise, I'm Kirito" Kirito replied as he started leading the group away from the clearing.

Oddly, the journey out of the forest yielded significantly more encounters than when Kirito ran towards the group. Kirito bit his lip as he realized that he was probably the cause, as his running must have lured all the mobs to the area.

As Kirito watched the group fight, while the mace user Tetsuo tanked, giving him a chance to observe the group. He realized that his initial judgment of the group was far too harsh, and that the group actually had a great deal of potential.

The balance of the group was actually pretty good, and there were only two places where improvements were needed. The first, was another player to act as a forward.

"Switch!" Kirito shouted as he dashed in, knocking the mob away before Tetsuo even had the chance to push the mob back. He felt that with another player protecting the group, the safety of the entire party would increase, and he tried hard to demonstrate the obvious.

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After a long half-hour, the group finally reached the exit of the forest, and Kirito accepted the group's invitation to have lunch. Kirito noted that the members of the party were very friendly with each other, and seemed like friends for a long time. Half-way through lunch, the staff-user Keita turned to Kirito.

"Kirito-san, this may seem a bit rude, but you're from the 10th floor right?" The question caught Kirito by surprise.

"Uh… yeah." Kirito replied, at which the whole group looked at him intensely.

"Can you tell us how it's like up there? Are the mobs really bad there? How about the people?" Keita's voice had gone up half an octave due to his excitement.

"Well… most of the people are still stuck around town, sticking in large groups to level safely… the mobs around the town aren't too bad at this point, thanks to the large leveling groups… but it definitely gets worse as the party size shrinks and the distance to town increases."

Kirito described the situation vaguely, trying not let them find out that he was the one that opened the level. A nostalgic sense of guilt struck at Kirito's heart, though he didn't know why.

After listening to Kirito's description, the group erupted into wild conversation. Kirito couldn't keep up. As the group quieted down and looked at Kirito, Keita spoke.

"So Kirito-san, why were you down at this level?"

"Uh… I was bored of leveling, so I came down to collect items to upgrade my weapon." Kirito quickly thought of the best lie he had, and it turns out it was true – he needed more than 100 [Treant Cores] as part of his requirements to upgrade his [Queen's Knightsword] to +15, and more if he desired increased success.

"I see…. Actually…." Keita quickly talked to his group again, and all the members started accessing menus and such.

"Kirito-san, do you happen to mean these?" Keita asked, as he popped up a trade window, inside showing around 30 [Treant Cores].

"Wow, yes these are… how much do you want for them?" Kirito asked, ready to put around 50K col for the items.

"Don't worry about it, take it as thanks for saving us." Keita responded, as he confirmed the trade for 0 col.

"Thanks!" Kirito smiled, he felt that this group of players were good people, and he enjoyed their presence. _If only the front lines had more people like this._

"Well Kirito-san, we are going to level a bit more now, thanks for the help." Keita's group got up, and prepared to leave.

"Keita, by any chance would you guys like to level together, I've got something that I'd like to do, but I need a small party to help me." Kirito asked.

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**[Date: December 6, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 18:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Grand Sequoia Labyrinth, boss room]

The blonde swordswoman sheathed her blade, as she walked into the boss room. Inside the room was a familiar figure of a young boy that she encountered several times.

"Aki, just tell me how did you manage to get ahead of me again?" The blonde asked, causing the young boy to turn around.

"Ah, Leafa-san, good evening." The boy nonchalantly greeted.

"I see you're as own-paced as ever. So you care to answer my question?" Leafa was surprised that he was getting used to dealing with this mysterious boy.

"Well, to be accurate, I'm not exactly ahead. Both of us are behind. The front lines are probably at the 10th floor now." Aki's response shocked Leafa.

"BUT HOW?! Weren't we just at the 3rd floor? This room should be the objective that everyone's trying to conquer." Leafa exclaimed in surprise, according to her sources, it should have taken at least another day until the clearing group should be strong enough to face the boss.

"I am not certain, but apparently the top groups are now at the 10th floor. Possibly a system error changed the layout of the maps." Aki continued, as turned around and left the room.

Leafa didn't hear Aki, as she was deep in thought.

_Just when I thought I had caught up to onii-chan, he must be in the front lines somewhere I know it. I was so sure that I'd be able to catch up though, since the guide gave me the best leveling method. _

_It's odd that nothing was mentioned about a missing floor boss, or a floor skip for the matter. I guess I'll have to stop staying from the public, and actually interact with the players in the game. Didn't want to do that as it feels like I'm cheating in this game, but at this point I don't have a choice. Actually I'll start by asking this weird boy that I keep bumping into._

"Hey Aki… huh?" Leafa turned around, and saw that Aki was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd the guy go?! And I was about to ask him a question..." A surprised Leafa sighed as she realized that the boy had disappeared again.

"Well… guess I'll have to start at [Starting City], better get back while the sun's still out…" Leafa groaned as she got up and left the room quickly. As she left she heard the sounds of swords and cheering above her head.

_I wonder if there's anything at the top of the trees? _Leafa wondered, but quickly dispelled her thoughts, she needed to find her brother, and didn't have time to waste on exploring.

**Author Notes:** Okay I lied, it became a Leafa section… still trying to get her some screentime without having her plot-evolve into a super-clearer just yet. Now that things aren't going to plan, she'll have to be more careful.


	43. Looking on the Moon

**Floor 10 - Looking on the Moon**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Author Notes: Off the plane and severely jetlagged... (as usual...) This is the second last of my reserve chapters... so don't be surprised if there's a release lag after then next one ;)  
**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 6, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 17:00]

Location: [3rd Floor – Lower Canopy Entrance]

Kirito has lost count of the times he watches Keita and his group celebrate, as every mob they took down was a cause for their festivities. Raising his hand as well, he joined the group in the sequences of high-fives.

"Kirito-san, did you see that, how was that finishing blow?" Keita asked Kirito enthusiastically.

"Your timing has improved quite a bit, just make sure you always prepare to retreat afterwards. You don't want yourself exposed up front unless Tetsuo is ready to back you up." Kirito replied, recalling the last attack that Keita made. At this time the others had surrounded the two, listening in on the conversation.

"Thanks a bunch. But really, we didn't even know there was this area that we could level on… I must say walking on these branches feels a little uneasy, but this place is perfect for leveling. These branches are just wide enough for a party to stand on, but not enough for us to get surrounded."

"Yup, now the only trouble begins when you get surrounded on both sides. If that happens and you can't handle, just jump down." Kirito said. Keita looked down and gulped.

"Are you sure? Looks pretty high though…" Keita commented, looking at the fall that was around 5m down.

"Well.. this is a game…" Kirito said, as he leaned over and started to fall. "Don't worry, watch." As he fell over he heard the shouts of the group, the only girl Sachi let out a short scream.

A minute later, Kirito continued his lecture. "The only requirement is that you ALL fall whenever you decide to do so. If any party members get left behind, they'll suffer a fate much worse than this." Kirito pointed to the top of his head, where only 20% of his HP was depleted. Since falling caused a set percentage of HP decrease, it wouldn't matter what level they were at, the loss would be the same.

"So you know, you guys are all doing this at least once before we head to dinner okay?" Kirito said, as he looked at the groups' 'You're joking right?' expression… he returned a serious look, then laughed. Before Kirito has known, he had fallen into the pace of the group's family-like atmosphere, and he really enjoyed it.

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By the time the sun had set, Kirito managed to bring the group's average level up two levels, due to his knowledge of the floor. Making them all the try the tree fall at least once – he had to hold Sachi's hand before she would agree, he then led them to the [Treant Sapling], where he taught them about the [Battle Healing] skill.

Returning to the town, dinner was full of excitement as usual.

"So you see, the five of us are actually friends from the same computer club in high school…" Keita said, "I suppose it was fortunate that we all 'dived' together, since otherwise we wouldn't have lasted so long."

Kirito listened in silence, trying to understand how Keita felt. He had never experience helplessness in the game from being alone, since he had a head start from the beginning. Of course the first few days in SAO were hectic enough that he didn't even have time to think about those things, but even afterwards Kirito would be in a position that he did not fear being alone.

"It was a great feeling to have friends that we could rely on, although the five of us mainly cowered in [Starting City] for the first week or so… Eventually we decided that as long as we were together we'd be able to at least live to fight in this world, so that's when we left the safe area." Keita continued.

"Must have taken a great deal of courage to leave the city and venture out into the dangerous areas." Kirito commented, he too had left the city, but he did so out of fear – fear of not being ahead, fear of being left behind

"Ha… now you're mocking me... when you probably left an entire week before us." Keita nudged Kirito's ribs, as he gave him a glare.

"It's not true, I left because a lot of people did. If had stayed, I might not be able to work up the courage to leave." Kirito told the truth in his heart, it took much more courage to leave when everyone had departed. He, who almost deserted the other players, knew that the most.

Kirito recalled that he was glad when he met Klein in the game, when the red-haired bandit accepted him as friend even though they had just met. In a way Keita's group were doing the same, without knowing anything about him in the game.

"Besides, you guys will definitely catch up. Although it's not nice of me to say this, but the leading group's going to be stuck in limbo for a while." Kirito said casually, to which Keita looked at him curiously.

"Well, to explain, most of the players on floor 10 just jumped from floor 3, and as you'd expect there's going to be a huge difference between the strength of the mobs there. Compound that with the fact that the new level hasn't been explored before, except the top few beta testers, the amount of information we have is severely lacking." Kirito noticed that the group did not seem affected by the term 'beta tester', and deep down he felt relieved.

"So what you're saying is that we've still got a good chance to catch up." Keita jumped up, and the entire group suddenly seemed to be filled with vigor.

"Well, there are a few things that need to be done first, but I don't see an issue." Kirito calmly said, mentally think about how to break the news to them.

"And we've the perfect person to help us right?" Keita grinned, as he looked at Kirito. "Actually, I suppose this is the perfect time for me to ask…"

Kirito looked to Keita, who was exchanging glances with his group, who nodded in agreement.

"Kirito-san, would you like to join our guild?"

Kirito was confused, for two reasons, first he didn't expect to be invited to a guild on the first day of meeting someone. Second, he did not notice a guild icon on any of the player's heads.

"Oh… sorry I forgot to mention, we are planning to start a guild now that we're on the 3rd floor. No wonder you were confused for a while there." Keita added.

"Well… I'm not sure I'd be suitable…" Kirito didn't feel too comfortable, after all, his level was still much higher, and it would be possible that he lead them into danger.

"Oh, so you're looking down on us now, we're not good enough?" Keita accused Kirito, and enjoyed the panic that he brought about the black-haired swordsman. The group laughed as Kirito regained his composure.

"Well… it's not that… just that I'm used to leveling without a party, and there's a lot that's unknown about the 10th floor so far…" Kirito tried to explain.

"Nevermind that for now… (huh?) we haven't even figured out a name for our guild yet… so that's more important… (wha?) haha… I guess Kirito-san's really not used to being in a group." Keita and his group started laughing.

"Great, so I'm going to be the blunt of the jokes then?" Kirito complained, "and what's with the '-san'?"

"Well, how about 'Kirito-kun', here Sachi try calling him Kirito-kuuuunnnn…"

"Mou…. Uh…. 'Kirito-kun'…."

"*sigh* 'Kirito' is fine." Kirito sighed, as the group began laughing again.

"Now for a more serious issue," Keita motioned for Sachi to come over, "Kirito, I'm sure you're aware of our group's deficiencies. Would you be willing to teach Sachi here how to use the 1-hand-sword and shield technique?"

Kirito expected a request like that, since it was obvious that the group needed an extra forward, what he did no expect was for him to nominate Sachi, who seemed the weakest of the group both in skill and in spirit.

"Well, you see, our group has two spear-users, and _this girl_ here is the weaker of the two. I thought about converting myself, but in her case it would be more dangerous to have her exposed after she tries a timid attack. Also, if she carries a shield, then she can allocate her stats to a more defensive build, and be more likely to survive." Keita explained his reasoning

Kirito was impressed at how Keita considered all the factors, despite being relatively new to the game. If everything goes according to his plan, this setup would indeed improve Sachi's chances at survival. However, the issue of the player herself was always the most important, and Kirito would have to find out through actually seeing her fight.

"Well, I must say I'm impressed at your reasoning, now the question is…" Kirito turned to Sachi "would you like to try it out? I know you're probably the type that listens to your boyfriend, but make sure you're comfortable with his demands."

"B…B… Boyfrield?!" Sachi exclaimed in surprise, her face turning red.

"What are you saying? I haven't…." Keita stopped just in time.

_Oops… guess I've been around the girls too much… their teasing's rubbing off on me_.

"Anyways, just trying to ease off the tension, now Sachi-san would you like to try the 1-hand,1-shield style?" Kirito asked again.

Sachi held her head down in thought, then took a breath and stepped up.

"I'll be in your care, please teach me kindly." The normally meek girl spoke with determination in her eyes.

Kirito glanced at Keita who was smiling, and nodded.

"Very well, then we'll start right after dinner, on the 2nd floor of course just to be safe. Then there's this…" Kirito accessed his menus

Materializing his [ Longsword 2S2D], and a [ Buckler], Kirito sent Sachi a trade window.

"This is?!" Sachi gasped in amazement.

"Well, you can't learn how to use a sword and shield without having one right? Take it." Kirito smiled, coaxing Sachi to accept the trade.

"Uh… Kirito-san… (*glare*)... I mean Kirito, I don't mean to interrupt, but I don't think we have enough money together to buy that." Keita said softly.

"Then think of it as a loan, for an indefinite period. You guys can pay me back when you'll by saving my behind one day." Kirito joked. "Unfortunately I don't have any extra equipment for you guys though."

"_Yosh_! Let's chow down and get leveling" Keita and the boys started munching down their food, while Sachi held the sword and shield in her arms, with a mixed expression of anxiety and relief.

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**[Date: December 6, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 21:00]

Location: [2rd Floor – Outside Urbus]

"Now, before you active the [slant] skill, position your shield close to your body, that way you'll still be defended after your skill ends." Kirito coached Sachi on the basics of using a sword and shield, as the rest of the group watched on atop of a nearby hill.

"Sure is nice to have an experienced user teach her the ropes." Keita's friend, Ducker commented, as they watched Kirito go through the basics maneuvers with Sachi.

"Definitely, now if all goes well we'll have two forwards, maybe even three if we can convince Kirito to join us." Keita responded, while witnessing the progress his childhood friend was making.

"Just because I'm your friend, you know that you might be getting yourself into a lot of troubles in the future. I can tell Kirito's a really kind person, and very strong to boot. You'll be setting yourself up for some tough competition you know." Ducker cautioned his friend.

"It'll be fine, as long as Sachi is happy, I'm content." Keita answered, his friend sighing as his answer. At this time they saw Kirito walking up the hill, switching as Sasamaru and Tetsuo went down to guard Sachi.

"So, how's it going?" Keita asked.

"Not too bad, she's pretty much gotten the hang of things. Unfortunately it'll take some time, so I think we should stay at these lower levels just a little longer." Kirito replied, "It'll also be a good opportunity for you guys to also train your [Battle Healing] as well though. Just be sure not to forget the rotation, as you'll be constantly fighting in the red zone."

Keita and Ducker looked each other in the eye, then laughed. "How come we never thought of that… you really are on a class of your own." Kirito lowered his head in embarrassment.

"Well, it's good to know we still have a bit of time, after all we didn't come out here just to endanger our lives. I know it's still too early for us, but eventually we want to take part in the clearing groups, and take on the floor bosses. It'll be our way of paying back those who inspired us and supported us during the first few days."

"…" Kirito didn't know what to say.

"Hey, don't you think it's beautiful?" Keita pointed to the place where Sachi and the other members, including Ducker who had joined the group, were practicing their skills together.

"Just a few weeks ago, we were caged up in our rooms and unable to walk out, fearing that every moment would be our last." Keita spoke as if he was entranced, "And now, here we are, our dark shadows dancing under the moonlight. As if we were once stray cats wandering in these lonely lands, we have slowly found our place"

Kirito thought about Keita's words, as much as he did not to admit it, SAO had been the same experience for him. Running from his past, his family, his sister, his entire reality, Kirito had put soul into the realm of gaming, creating a fake persona that masked the true emotions of the young boy inside.

Kayaba had destroyed that persona that he carefully built up, and threw him as well as 9999 other people into a realm where nothing was familiar. Each person wandered on his or her own, and eventually bonds grew. Finally, he felt he had a place that he belonged to, even if it was a land where his life was on the line every single day. Still, Aincrad had become a second home for Kirito. If only his family were here…

"I GOT IT!" Keita suddenly exclaimed, causing Kirito to jump.

"What is it?" Kirito asked, recovering from his surprise.

"The name of our guild…" Keita grabbed Kirito's arm, and dragged him down to his group.

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**[Date: December 7, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 8:00]

Location: [1rd Floor – Starting City]

"And with this… DONE!" Keita exclaimed as he finished finalizing his new guild, having finished the 'Guild Creation Quest' quickly due to Kirito's help. A new icon hovered on top of his head, a crescent moon with a cat-figure on top – the new mark of the guild [Black Cats of the Full Moon] (月夜の黒猫団).

Kirito watched silently as Keita and his new guild celebrated, as he prepared for the inevitable moment. As Keita walked to Kirito, time seemed to slow down just a little.

"So, I suppose I can't change your mind right?" Keita asked Kirito, who solemnly replied.

"No, I'm sorry."

Keita smiled, held his hand out "Don't worry, it doesn't mean we're not friends. But you watch, one day we'll catch up and you'll be begging to join us. Of course we'll let you, but not before you beg long and hard."

Kirito smiled, and shook his hand. The others in the guild quickly gathered.

"Kirito-san, thank you for all the guidance you've given me so far, I promise I'll try hard to become a good swordswoman." Sachi shook Kirito's hands gratefully.

"Well, so I guess we'll be parting ways here?" Keita asked nervously, fearing that Kirito would be relieved to be finally set free to level.

"What do you guys mean? We're heading back to the field right now" Kirito answer surprised everyone in the group, who showed confusion in their looks.

"Last I recalled, you guys said you wanted to catch up to the front lines, and I promised to help. It would be a hassle if you guys never ended up there… I don't plan on staying on these levels forever you know…" Kirito grinned as he joked, walking to the town portal.

Understanding what Kirito meant, the members of the Black Cats cheered loudly, and ran quickly as they caught up to Kirito. The day was long, and a lot of leveling was left to do.

**Author Notes:** Finally, the Black Cats have been introduced. With that I've got all the canon main characters into the story. I'll probably think of something for Sinon and Alice, but they definitely won't be here to stay… (maybe even a cameo for Eugeo? Sugo?... nah!)


	44. Girls Side - Guys, Ghosts & Goblins

**Floor 10 - Girls Side – Guys; Ghosts & Goblins**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Author Notes: Finally finished this chapter, had to change a little stuff in the next one to accommodate... please point out any errors THX  
**

Author's Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 9, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [17:00]

Location: [10th Floor – NPC Blacksmith]

Lisbeth stood in front of the blacksmith NPC, having rented the store for her personal use. In front of her stood her friend, the chestnut-haired rapier user Asuna, who held her gleaming sword horizontally for her friend.

"You sure you want to do this? This upgrade's pretty expensive, and not to mention all the materials that you had to gather. Are you sure you don't want to wait until later? Or simply upgrade to a newer sword?" Lisbeth, looking at the 30K upgrading cost window.

"It's not like I can get another weapon until I head up to the next floor, besides, I'll need the best I can get if I'm going fight in the floor boss raid." Asuna insisted, materializing a small bag of coins and handing it to her friend.

"Well, if you insist, I'll try my best to make it count but don't count on it. There's a limit to how high the chance of success is, in this case it's 95% so pray that I'm having good luck."

Lisbeth smiled as she took her precious [Gale Fleuret], her bag of refining materials and the 30K. Lisbeth turned over to the forge, and ignited the fixture which shortly glowed in a red heat. She set the menu on the forge and selected the appropriate command – [Reinforcement], and turned to Asuna.

"Just to confirm. Reforcement to your [Gale Fleuret 3A4Q], if the upgrade succeeds it will add 1 Quickness becoming 3A5Q… there is a 95% chance of success. Any last requests?"

"Nothing… well… 'do your best Liz!' "

"Just watch me!" Lisbeth cheered herself on, and poured the refining materials into the forge. The previously red hot forge quickly changed into a gold-color, with a light silver sparks erupting occasionally – signifying the selected property of 'quickness'.

Lifting the rapier [Gale Fleuret], Lisbeth slowly inserted the sword into the puddle of refining metal. The rapier glowed brightly as the golden metal encompassed the blade of the weapon, and Lisbeth took a deep breath.

The moment the puddle had reached the hilt of the sword, Lisbeth exhaled quickly and pulled the rapier out of the furnace. SAO never explicitly mentioned that refining chance had any other factors that could affect the percentage of a successful refinement, only offering the base percentage for materials used. However Lisbeth firmly believed that the smith's actions would affect chance of success, and finding the best method became one of the goals that she wanted to achieve. So far, she tried many other methods, but found that for quickness the best method (according to her experience) was to insert the weapon slowly and extract quickly.

Bringing the glowing rapier over to the anvil, Lisbeth lifted her smithing hammer passed down from her master, and proceeded to hammer the rapier a total of ten times. At the last chime, the glow of the rapier flared brightly, and slowly settled to its original color. A message indicated that she had succeeded.

"All right!" Lisbeth exclaimed, and handed the sword back to a relieved Asuna.

"With this, I'll be able to use this all the way until I can no longer go further." Asuna thanked her friend, as she took back her precious sword. "By the way, are you busy later tonight?"

"Not really, why?" Lisbeth asked

"How about we celebrate with dinner tonight?" Asuna's eyes were glittering with expectation.

"Why not? It's been a while since I've had a good rest, I'll be back once I finish cleaning up." Lisbeth replied, as she started to put away her tools.

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**[Date: December 9, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [19:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Living Area - Rented Room]

"Ah! That was a good meal!" Asuna exclaimed, as she opened the door to the rented room on the 10th floor.

"Well, if there's one thing that I like about his place, it's the fact that we don't ever have to worry about our weight." Lisbeth joked, as she walked into the room and unequipped all her equipment and switched to her casual clothes.

"That strawberry parfait was so tasty, we should go back there more often." Silica chirped as she closed the door behind them. Quickly switching out of her armor, she collapsed on a chair and allowed her flurry dragon to land on her lap.

"Come to think of it, it's been a while since the three of us had a chance to sit down and enjoy a meal together." Lisbeth suddenly mentioned, recalling the events of the last few days. The three had gotten really close over the first month of the death-game, in part due to the constant partying and floor boss raids.

"Well, the last time we partied together was right after we opened the town, doing the quest to get this room rental. I remember it was the day after Argo disappeared, and we all freaked out." Asuna recalled.

Ever since coming to the 10th floor, the three of the girls haven't been leveling together as often, actually they haven't been leveling much at all. Part of the reason was due to the fact that the majority of players weren't ready for the 10th floor, and at the request and Diabel, each of the three girls agreed to leading a large-scale farming party to help the players.

Naturally, the three girls tried their best, and spent a good majority of the mornings and afternoon helping the players. However, as the numbers of players grew, certain players began to seek the individual attention of the girls, and eventually became the forerunners of the fanclubs. Unfortunately, things eventually escalated to the point where the girls were not able to level properly during the mornings or the afternoons, having spent most of their times dealing with their fans.

"… and after that, we had a short lunch together. A lot of other people crowded in the diner's though, and we had to leave pretty quickly… I remember it was really hard to lose the people that were chasing us." Silica sighed, as she recalled how she literally had a herd of boys chasing her back to the field.

The three girls looked at each other, then started laughing.

"Well, it's great that we were able to solve that problem for the time being. It's nice to be able to eat dinner together, now if Argo showed up once in a while…" Lisbeth continued.

"Come to think of it, where is she anyways?" Asuna asked the girls.

"The last time we saw her was on the 4th, I think Kirito-san asked her to investigate about some 'darkness' issue with the mobs." Silica replied, as she stroked her pet dragon's neck, causing it to rub its head on her hand.

"I haven't talked to Kirito-kun after that either, though I've seen him heading into the portal quite a few times in the last couple days." Asuna added.

"While we're on the topic, Argo seemed a little suspicious after she came back, I wonder what happened?" Lisbeth commented.

"I should say that about you… did something happen with Kirito-kun when you two dropped into the cave?" Asuna's question caused Lisbeth to jump, as she replied.

"What do you mean? Nothing happened? We just fell in, and he led me out." Lisbeth replied, trying to suppress the memories, but Asuna didn't miss the light tint of pink that appeared on her face.

"Well, that settles it, we're going into the bath NOW! While we're there Liz is going to spill the beans about what happened in the cave." Asuna declared as she dragged Liz into the bathroom, with Silica following.

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The bathroom was probably one of the best ones available so far, arguably surpassing the Jacuzzi tub that was in the room that Kirito rented. Asuna had grilled Kirito until he told the girls about a quest to rent a room with a deluxe bath that could accommodate four people. The quest spent a great deal of time and patience, and at the end the three girls were drained. Luckily their perseverance paid off, and the moment they enjoyed the bath all the fatigue accumulated throughout the day disappeared.

"Ahh.." Asuna sighed in relaxation as she sank into the tub filled with hot water, beside her Lisbeth was helping Silica wash her hair, and Silica's pet dragon was tending to its delicate feathers.

"Asuna you sound like an old geezer when you do that." Lisbeth teased her friend as she finished rinsing Silica's hair. "You need to be more cheerful like Silica here, see how soft her skin is?"

"Kyaa! Liz-san!" Silica squealed in surprised as Lisbeth ran her finger down her back, she quickly got up, then jumped into the bath tub that Asuna was sitting in.

"Haha… sorry, now I'm acting like an old geezer" Lisbeth apologized, as she rinsed off her hair, then followed suit and dipped herself into the large bathtub that still had room even after admitting the three girls.

"OK, so spit it out Liz, what happened to you and Kirito?" Asuna asked the moment Liz entered the shower.

"…" Lisbeth sunk her head into the water, quickly recalling the details and determining which ones are the ones that she could talk about…

"Well, the first part you more or less know about, how we were attacked by the dragon, and how we fell down into the cave as Kirito attempted to distract the dragon." Lisbeth spoke with her mouth barely out of the water, she wasn't about to let Asuna catch her embarrassed expression.

"Then?" Asuna asked, seeing right through Lisbeth's intentions. "Something definitely happened in the cave… oh, don't tell me Kirito-kun did something to you? Did he stop midway? Or maybe you let him?!" Asuna's provocation worked, as Lisbeth suddenly stood up and shouted

"WHA.. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! We just fell in the water, and I got drenched so I changed into the nightgown, and when Kirito came to he just saw..." Lisbeth stopped as she realized that she took the bait, and silently sunk into the water.

"oh… sorry Liz, I didn't know…" Asuna quickly apologized, which made Lisbeth even more depressed.

"It's OK… it's not like I have any to show like Asuna's…" Lisbeth's self-loathing voice mumbled.

"It's OK Liz-san, size doesn't matter, and Kirito's not that kind of person…" Silica tried to cheer Lisbeth up as well.

"Silica, at least you're just 12, so you have no right to say that…" Lisbeth complained.

It took a while to calm Lisbeth down, before she stopped sulking.

"Still, Kirito-kun has the weirdest tendency to end up in these situations. If it was someone like Klein I'm sure I would have poked several holes in him already." Asuna commented.

"Liz-san, you have to be careful… Kirito-san isn't that type of person that would do perverted things to girls… well.. at least not intentionally at least… More like he's… uh… how do you put it?" Silica also sank into the water, recalling his various incidents with Kirito.

"Innocent placing himself in situations where he can be branded as a pervert?" Lisbeth sighed as well, she knew all too well that everyone here was the victim of Kirito's hidden ability of [EET - ecchi event trigger].

The three girls laughed together, then listened as Lisbeth continued.

"Well.. he was knocked out at the time, so it wasn't his fault. He apologized for a long time afterwards too, so I suppose I'll let it pass… it's not like I could kill him for something like it…"

"Liz, you're unexpectedly soft when it comes to Kirito-kun aren't you? I thought you'd at least hit him with your hammer or something…" Asuna said.

"Aren't you the same? You tease Kirito tons, but when it comes to anything important, you're always the first one on his side." Lisbeth teased back.

"That's because Kirito-san is really nice and kind, so that's why we all like him so much." Silica stated innocently, earning the sighs of the two older girls in the bath.

Returning to the large bedroom, the three girls continued to talk about the events that occurred after Lisbeth and Kirito recovered inside the cave.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx

**[Date: December 3, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: 03:30]

Location: [10th Floor – Mountain Caves]

Lisbeth and Kirito walked the tunnel passages slowly, as there was very little light in the cave. Kirito had prepared a [Torch], to Lisbeth's surprise, and that at least made it possible to keep moving at a steady pace, however if any mob was encountered it would be hard to hold the torch and fight at the same time.

"Hey Kirito, so was it true that the cave contained ghosts?" Lisbeth asked cautiously, as she followed Kirito.

"Well, I haven't encountered anything personally, but according to the quest NPC on this floor, there was a period of time where the cave was infested with vengeful spirits…" Kirito replied, and suddenly Lisbeth sensed a chill on her neck.

"Kyaa!" Lisbeth shrieked as she clung onto Kirito.

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked, as he tried to get Lisbeth to loosen her grip.

"Something cold suddenly touched my neck." Lisbeth's voice quivered as she loosened her grip, but she didn't let go and still clung on to Kirito.

Kirito turned around and reached onto Lisbeth's neck, and used his finger to take a sample of the liquid on her neck.

"It's just water, probably something that dripped from the ceiling, so don't worry." Kirito replied, as then realized that he was face to face Lisbeth.

"Uh.. thank you…" Lisbeth quickly lowered her head, and let go of Kirito's neck.

The path was unexpectedly uneventful, where only a handful of mobs were encountered as the two progressed through the cave. Learning from the mistake they had made on the mountains, the two did not drop their guard though, as any further errors could be fatal.

In around one hour, the two had reached a slightly larger open area, similar to the pond where the two originally dropped into the cave. In the middle of the 'pond', around 20 [Cave Goblins] were walking around aimlessly, holding a spiked club.

"Well, this was one of my leveling spot when I was here. The spawn rate is terrible, but the goblins give a decent amount of experience, so once a day I'd pass through and clean out the spawn. Want to try?" Kirito asked Lisbeth, who held up her weapon and nodded.

As Kirito mentioned, the goblins were really easy to fight, despite being a mob on the 10th floor. The spiked club was slow and easy to dodge, and the post-attack delay was very easy to capitulate on. It took less than 10 minutes to clear out the mob, and neither Kirito nor Lisbeth lost more than 10% of their HP.

"When's the next spawn appear?" Lisbeth asked, holding her weapon as if she hadn't had enough.

"Unfortunately, not in 2 hours…"

"Meh! You really weren't joking when you said the respawn rate was terrible. Oh well, lets go." Lisbeth said. Suddenly she saw Kirito freeze, and she looked in the direction she pointed.

A green flame floated in the distance, its flame giving an eerie feeling, and the entire room felt like it had dropped several degrees.

"EEK!" Another shriek left Lisbeth's lips as she hid behind Kirito's back. The black-haired boy in front stood still though, with his sword held out.

The green flame did not attack, but continued to hover in the distance, as if waiting for the two players to approach is.

"Liz, are you OK to walk? I'd like to follow the flame." Kirito suddenly said.

"Can we not?" Lisbeth protested softly, her psyche still weakened by the supernatural existence in front of them.

"Well… I could come back to get you…" Kirito's suggestions was rejected by Lisbeth wrapping her arms around his neck, followed by an increasing force.

"OK, I won't leave you behind, but you're definitely coming. This flame's leading us in the same direction as the exit." Kirito gave an acceptable reply as Lisbeth loosened her grip that was choking Kirito.

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**[Date: December 9, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [21:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Living Area - Rented Room]

"So we continued following the flame for a good half-hour, and eventually we got to a point where it went a way that did not head to the exit." Lisbeth continued. She made sure to omit the parts where she freaked out and hugged Kirito, and was relieved that nobody tried to grill her… partially thanks to Asuna's fear of supernatural phenomena.

"Did Kirito-san want to follow the flame?" Silica asked. Behind her Asuna had cuddled herself up in a blanket, and only exposed her head out of the piece of cloth.

"It wouldn't be Kirito if he didn't. Well, I objected at first but seeing that we were almost at the exit I figured that a little detour wouldn't hurt. Was I in for a shock…" Lisbeth answered, and noted that Asuna had gripped her blanket even harder.

"Well, we continued down the path, and suddenly… POOF! (Kyaa!_" Lisbeth raised her voice suddenly, causing Asuna to let out a short scream of her own. Lisbeth grinned and continued.

"The green flame suddenly exploded, and we did not know what to do. At this time another blue flame appeared from the corner, and continued to lead us down the tunnel. Apparently the red flames were aggressive, but Kirito quickly handled those ones.

"You can attack the flames, and why were there red, green and blue flames?!" Asuna asked in surprise, and Lisbeth turned to her.

"According to Kirito, the three types of flames are three mob types, similar to a golem wielding different weapons. Apparently the green and blue mobs are really passive, and won't attack you for the most part, but the red ones are highly aggressive. If you get hit by the red ones your skin feels as if you're burning alive, and while you fight them you also see images showing the deaths of the spirit's original owner…. Asuna… are you alright?" Lisbeth asked Asuna with concern, as she noticed that the strongest rapier-user was shaking under the blanket, holding her tears back desperately.

"Are you OK Asuna-san? Liz-san, let's skip this part and move on." Silica said as she comforted Asuna, who was trembling in fear at this part.

"Oh OK, sorry Asuna, maybe I should have skipped the scary images. Anyways, with a little of effort we reached the end, and we found out the cause of the flames. Inside the 'heart' of the cave, as Kirito called it, there was a [The Golem Necromancer], who I guess was preparing some sort of forbidden magic." Lisbeth paused to take a look as Asuna, who seemed to have recovered from the shock.

"Well, the field boss was level 30, so we definitely did not attack it. We did note that eventually we'll have go back to fight the boss, though, and then we escaped the cave."

"Well, unless it's needed to clear the floor I'm definitely not going!" Asuna stated resolutely, and Lisbeth laughed.

Suddenly, a knock came on the door.

Asuna got out of the blanket, and walked over in her nightgown to open the door. Argo's hooded figure appeared behind the opened door, waving to a surprised Asuna.

"Hey Asuna, I came to tell you that apparently the ALF has decided to attack the boss room, Kirito tried to go against it, but since even the DDA was all riled up it looks like a go."

"Okay, let me change now and I'll head over to talk to them right now." Asuna quickly opened her menu, and unequipped her nightgown, when Argo suddenly ripped off her robe and held it in front of Asuna.

"Argo? What are you doing? Why are you…." Her questions were answered as she saw a familiar black-haired figure standing behind Argo, who for some odd reason she did not notice.

"Uh.. hi? Asuna? -san?" Kirito spoke as he used his hands to cover his eyes.

"Kyaa!" Asuna's scream could be heard throughout the inn as she slammed the front door shut.


	45. Slight Setback

**Floor 10 - ****少し失****敗 ****- Slight Setback**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 10, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:30]

Location: [10th Floor –Boss Room]

Kirito held our his [Queen's Holy Knightsword 8S3D] in a defensive stance, his eyes glued to the floor boss that stood in front of him. Behind him screams of fear and panic were heard.

"Make sure NOBODY is left behind," Kirito shouted, as he charged forward, engaging the floor boss as his companions directed the retreat.

Kirito's sword clashed with the blade of the floor boss, [Noir - The Cursed Elven Queen], as the auras of light and dark fought with each other. He needed to keep the boss engaged, otherwise she would have a chance at using her special attack.

****** Ten Minutes Earlier ******

"Keep hitting the boss, we don't want those mongrels in the DDA to get the LA.. and definitely not those beaters." Kibaou's infuriating voice boomed over the warcries of the AFL troops.

Kirito and his group, Agil, Argo, Asuna, Lisbeth, and Silica were busy supporting the main group by engaging the mini-bosses [Corrupted Elf Sentries]. They watched carefully as the main group engaged the floor boss [Noir - The Corrupted Elven Queen], as her HP bar came close to the last bar.

This time the players were prepared for surprises, having learnt from their previous mistakes. The fighting was slowed down as players carefully chipped off the second HP bar in defensive stances. Soon the Elven Queen was down to 50% of its last HP bar, and a full attack was commenced.

Having originally rejected the idea of attacking the floor boss so soon, Kirito's group was relegated to the sidelines, as we Klein's group. The two groups maintained their guard, as the main forces consisting of five groups endlessly attacked the Queen.

_Still, something seems off, I hope I'm mistaken_. Kirito thought as he tightened his grip on his sword. He had told his companions of his concerns, and at this point they were fully ready to engage, having filled their HP and readied their weapons.

Watching as Kibaou charged up to the Queen and landing the LA, the queen started to glow.

"OH YEAH! I GOT THE LAST ATTACK! TAKE THAT YOU SUCKER…" Kibaou's gloating was cut short when an explosion sent the front line players flying backwards. The rest of the group quickly fell back to support their comrades, holding their swords in defense.

Kirito group quickly arrived, having prepared for the possibility of a surprise. They held out their weapons, as the smoke from the explosion faded. A figure that was shrouded in a dark aura stepped out slowly from the smoke, its eyes red with fiery, and a long blade katana was held on its right hand.

"This is not good," Kirito said in a low voice, "Get ready to commence a full retreat."

He confirmed the nods on his companions, and picked up a set of throwing picks. Readying his hand, five bolts of red flew towards the **Cursed** Queen, and was blocked by a purple sign – [Immortal Object]

"FULL RETREAT, NOW!" Kirito shouted as the top of his voice.

As if understanding his intentions, the Cursed Queen swept her blade in a sideways motion, and a crimson arc slashed across the field, many were blown away from the resulting shockwave, and Kirito noticed that his HP had dropped 30% despite his blocking.

His party on the other hand had dropped around 50%, making Kirito realize that it was due to the power of his Holy Sword that he was able to reduce the damage. Realizing what he needed to do, he charged towards the Queen.

_I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM!_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**[Date: December 10, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Dixie, Living Area - Diners]

Kirito sat at the table in silence, the tension was tangible, and nobody uttered a word.

"So, I guess we had a slight setback," Kirito tried to start the conversation, and met with the glares of the others at the table. "but at least all of us came back alive and well…"

Kirito's words were cut short by a slam on the table, he quickly stopped talking and looked at Asuna, who had the angry expression showing. "That was far from a 'slight' setback, it was a plain act of stupidity. Do you know what would have happened if you didn't save the sorry behinds of the ALF and DDA? We'd probably end up the only survivors, and the entire boss raid party would be over. Though to be honest a part of me actually wishes for that outcome, it was their incompetence that caused this mess-up. Then there was the loss of lives at the beginning of opening the 10th floor… we're down to 9444 survivors, just because they decided to run farming parties in so-called 'safe areas' before verifying for boss monsters."

"Calm down Asuna-san, it's not like we could have stopped them... you know Spikey," Klein tried to reason with Asuna, "Not to mention Lynd of the DDA's getting a little out of hand as well. I heard that they started to relocate col within their guild members, a 'temporary loan', in order to fund their top players for equipment. The scene's getting really competitive, and everyone wants to be the first to clear the level and land the boss' LA."

"I think Kirito-san should go and have a talk with Thinker-san and Diabel-san, since you're the only one that can convince them. It's not good to have everyone fighting each other, when we all need to work together to beat the boss." Silica suggested, as she fed her pet dragon a strawberry off her dessert.

"Well… I guess I'll go talk to Diabel and Thinker about the issue, we'll probably recoup our losses, and then have another boss meeting in a few days? Agil, Klein, do any of you know Lynd well enough to request that of the DDA?" Kirito suggested.

"Well, I suppose. I think a few more days of leveling would benefit their group as well. Not to mention we need to figure out the issue about the boss' [Immortal Object] status." Agil replied.

"Well, Argo's already on with the investigation, I also have a clue at this point… we might actually have to do a quest before the boss becomes defeatable…" Kirito replied "in any case, let's leave it at that. I'll contact you all later tonight then."

Dismissing the meeting, Kirito went to the town portal. "Teleport, [Starting City]"

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**[Date: December 10, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00]

Location: [1st Floor – Starting City]

"Kirito-san, welcome back!" A bunnygirl flew into his arms before Kirito knew what was happening.

"Uh.. I'm back? No wait… what are you doing Mika-sa… Mika" Kirito looked at Mika's glaring eyes.

"Now that's better…" Mika replied as he looked at Kirito's embarrassed face.

"How did you know I was coming? And what's with this outfit?" Kirito asked, as Mika grabbed Kirito's arm.

"Well, first we found out about the raid about the floor boss, and this…" Mika handed Kirito the newspaper. The headline read [Floor Boss Invincible?! Black Swordsman saves party from Certain Doom!]

"How did this?" Kirito was surprised that Argo managed to have time to take the picture, but considering her history, it was probably to be expected.

" I knew that eventually you'd have to come here to negotiate with the ALF, so I waited here until you arrived." Mika smiled sweetly at Kirito, who became increasingly nervous.

"Oh, and the bunny suit was the owner's idea, sort of to cheer up the mood since people might be depressed from the news." Mika's voice faded to a whisper, "Do you want me to give you some special services to cheer you up?" At which point Kirito's face turned red.

"Uh… thanks for the offer but not now." Kirito quickly said, as Mika let go of his arm.

"hmm… did you just 'not now'? I'm going to take you up on that…" Mika giggled as she closed in on Kirito, making him feel a different kind of tension from the boss meeting earlier.

"An.. Anyways, I have to find the ALF now, I'll see you later Mika." Embarrassed, Kirito was about to leave, when Mika grabbed his arm.

"Wait.. I almost forgot this." Mika clicked several buttons on her menu, and a friend request popped up on Kirito's screen. "You won't reject me this far right?" Mika said suddenly, her voice turning serious.

"Mika…" Kirito hesitated, he knew what the girl was thinking, or rather the girl made it blatantly obvious what she was thinking, and he didn't want to give her false hope.

"Don't worry, I said before you'll have to make the decision eventually." Mika looked Kirito in the eyes. "Besides, I'm not that weak… nor will I give up. For now though, just give me the comfort of letting me know that you're alive and fine every morning."

Pressing on the 'Yes' key, Kirito saw the determination in her eyes, and in his mind he apologized, for doubting her strength, and for being unable to respond to her. He saw a light glitter in her eyes, as she jumped around and took a step away.

"Yay, Kirito contact GET!" Mika started walking away quickly, "I'll see you next time Kirito! Promise me you'll visit again, otherwise I'll spam your message box!"

Kirito turned back around, loathing himself for his lack of EQ, he took a while to gather his thoughts, and then started walking to the ALF headquarters.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Negotiations went really well without the interference of the self-proclaimed second-in-command Kibaou, and Thinker agreed quickly to hosting another boss meeting in five days. Kirito breathed a sign of relief, glad that the hard part was over, and turned to the other issue.

_[Noir the Cursed Elven Queen] possessed an intense dark aura, which even my [Holy Knighsword] couldn't pierce… it must be related to the 'darkness' that mob [The Punisher] spoke about. If that's the case, we'll probably have to defeat whatever the 'darkness' is before the Queen can be defeated._

Suddenly, a chime started to ring, and the message indicator started flashing. Opening up the message, Kirito realized that he was late. He broke into a fast jog, travelling down the alleys towards the warp portal.

Arriving at the entrance to the [Misty Forest] on the 3rd floor, Kirito met up with Black Cats guild.

"You're late!" Keita joked, as he greeted Kirito with a light jab.

"Sorry, I got caught up in traffic." Kirito replied, and the group shared a laugh.

"So this is it? We're finally ready to step onto the frontier…" Keita announced.

"Yes, and here's your equipment" Kirito opened up trade windows, and traded the [Stainless Steel] equipment sets to each of the players.

"Good, that will save us a trip to the shops, we can go level directly." Keita said.

"I know, let's hit the dungeons right as we arrive, we'll make a fortune…" Ducker added

"Then spend it on upgrading equipment… that way at least it'll be shiny like Sachi's" Sasamaru continued.

"Mou… I didn't need the items to be shiny, it just turned out that way…" Sachi pouted, as she held the sword and shield that Kirito gave her days ago.

"And yet who was it that kept spending col at the NPC polishing it daily?" Ducker teased.

"Mou!..." Sachi's face turned red, as the group laughed at her.

"Anyways, we'll head over to the 10th floor Dixie, and arrange a room for you guys first, since you'll probably be there to stay for a while. Remember not to leave the [Safe Area] without a party, and definitely DO NOT go near the big inn [Perfect Ten]." Kirito cautioned.

"Is there something wrong with the big inn?" Keita asked

"Yes, there's a chance that players could be kidnapped and killed by an NPC quest." Kirito responded, causing the air to freeze around the group.

"But.. the quest should be frozen at this point… still there's no harm in being careful." Kirito concluded, as he led the group into the portal.

"Teleport, Dixie"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kirito watched as the Black Cats lay on the floor exhausted; their HP bars were in the yellow, slowly recovering due to the effects of the potions. The new mobs were harder to level on compared to expectations, and the group made many silly mistakes along the way.

"Well, I'd say it was a pretty good run for a first day." Keita said, gasping for air. He had almost become the victim of a [Baby Falcon]'s skill [Headrush], and would probably have been severely in the red if not for Kirito intercepting at the last moment.

"I don't know about you, but that was a pretty scary experience." Ducker added, recalling the time where he missed a sword skill, and got hit pretty hard as a result. In his case Tetsuo warded the mob off with a well timed hit.

Watching the groups' HP return to the green, Kirito put away his [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] and walked over to Sachi, who had coiled into a ball as she sat down.

"You did well, how are you feeling?" Kirito asked, he noted that Sachi was performing much better than she used to, but there were still moments that her fear would get the better of her, leading to her defenses to collapse.

"I'm OK, just a little shaken up, that's all." Sachi replied weakly, as Kirito lightly patted her on the head.

"OK, I guess we'll call it a day, the sky's getting dark, and it'll start getting dangerous if we continue." Kirito announced, and members of the group got up and yawned.

At the entrance to the town, Keita turned to Kirito. "You're not joining us to dinner?"

"Sorry, I've got to do something; I'll see you guys later?" Kirito replied.

"OK, see you tomorrow" The group waved to Kirito, as he turned and walked to the town portal

At this time a message popped on Kirito's screen. [Sachi: See you tonight]

Kirito walked to the portal, raised his hand, and muttered "System Call: Teleport, Decium Grande"

Arriving at the Elven City, Kirito walked into the NPC shop, and slipped a 1000 col note to the NPC "Show me your wares."

Immediately, a revised weapons list popped up. The prices were double the original, but a set of equipment, the [Reinforced Steel] series, was available.

_So the trick works… I wonder where Argo found that information?_

Kirito purchased a battleaxe for Agil, as well as a new hammer for Lisbeth, he then purchased two long-swords and shields – one for Sachi and himself.

Leaving the weapons store and heading to the [Perfect Ten], Kirito materialized the extra longsword, and drew his [Knightsword]

_Time to clean up some loose ends…_

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**[Date: December 10, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [21:20]

Location: [10th Floor – Dixie City]

"Sorry to keep you waiting" Kirito walked up to Sachi who was waiting at the town center,

Between eating with his clearing group, delivering the equipment, and refining his equipment, Kirito barely had time to stop, and yet he was still late.

"Not at all, I just got here" Sachi's white lie was obvious, as Kirito ended up 20 minutes late.

"Well, I'm still late. As an apology I'll treat you to cake tomorrow, but first, let's go." Kirito began to walk towards the field, and Sachi followed.

After giving her the new [R. Steel Sword 1S3D] and [R. Steel buckler+4], Kirito and Sachi began to hunt [Stray Wolves]. These mobs were actually higher in level than the ones that the Black Cats were hunting in the morning, but with Kirito's help Sachi did remarkably well.

Kirito noticed that for some odd reason, Sachi performed much better on the field working as a team of two versus working in a large group. Whereas normally she would become scared and make basic mistakes, when Sachi was leveling with Kirito she would never miss an opportunity, and her switches were remarkably accurate.

_I suppose it all boils down to a matter of confidence..._

Watching as Sachi finished off the [Stray Wolf], Kirito went over and patted her on the head. He noticed that she had leveled up, and was the highest leveled in her guild now. Figuring it was time, he brought Sachi back into the [Safe Area], to an area that was sparsely populated and where no players walked past.

"Kirito-san, what are we doing here?" Sachi asked innocently. Kirito drew both of his blades in response, and smiled.

"Your next opponent is me" Kirito smiled as he sent Sachi a duel request.

"Ehhh!" Sachi was surprised beyond words, but she pressed 'accept'

"I think you've become used to dealing with normal mobs, but in the front lines you have to be prepared for anything. The only way to do so is to directly stimulate your instincts." Kirito explained. "I'll go easy today, so just concentrate on defending."

"O…Okay.." Sachi nervously held up her shield, he had never faced an actual player before, and didn't know what to do.

The countdown dropped to zero, and Kirito's brutal training commenced.

By the time they were done, the clock had already passed 23:00. Kirito walked Sachi to her inn room, and watched her as she walked up to her room. Then he turned around.

"She's trying very hard, but are you sure you want to put her in danger like this?" Kirito asked the man who came out of the shadows.

"It has to be done, one way or another, we can't keep running."

"Aren't you afraid of losing her?"

"I do, but I know that you're the only one that can help her."

"You sure put a lot of faith into her though."

"In her, and in you. I couldn't have been luckier, the way I see it."

"Well… I'll try my best and get her ready… I hope you guys are ready as well… a field boss is nothing to laugh at."

"I'll try. Goodnight Kirito."

"You too, Keita"

**Author's Notes:**

LOL… Kirito's acting like a real pro here… balancing his work and relationship and more relationships and even more… can't wait to pop the bubble and watch the catfights. (OK.. maybe not… I'm hoping to resolve this peacefully without killing characters.. though I might not be able to… )

No… no Leafa yet… I've pretty much figured out where I want to insert her character… but it'll be a little in the future… gotta balance the levels first.

P.S. 少し失敗 **– ****just paying random homage to the original novels… lol**


	46. For the Sake of Protecting

**Floor 10 - For the Sake of Protecting**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 12, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Desert Area]

Kirito used activated his [Searching], and confirmed that no mobs were present in the area, signaling his allies, Kirito watched as they carefully walked towards him. He did not blame them for being safe, after all this was un-treaded territory.

Signaling a quick stop, Kirito asked the guild-leader of the group following him. "How are you guys doing?"

The staff-wielding player gave Kirito tired look "It's surprisingly tiring, even though we've yet to encounter a single mob."

"Well sometimes that's the way it is. The more the reason we should take frequent breaks, so that we don't tire ourselves out before the mob appears." Kirito replied, whilst navigating his menus. Six coconuts materialized, and Kirito tossed one to each player.

"Wow, where'd you get these?"

"Quest at the diners, it's almost odd that the mobs that I needed to hunt were also here…" Kirito answered.

"And I suppose that's when you saw shadows of the obelisk in question?" Keita asked, and Kirito nodded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yesterday, Kirito received a message from Argo, confirming that there was a power of darkness that granted the [Cursed Queen] immortality. In order to quell her powers, three obelisks of darkness had to be terminated, one in each of the areas of desert, forest, and mountains.

It was by coincidence that Kirito saw traces of an obelisk in the sand dunes, so naturally he volunteered to take the obelisk in the desert, the ALF and DDA would split the remaining two.

Unfortunately the desert was known to have optical illusions, and distances were always distorted. The precise location of obelisk would therefore have to be determined once within a 50M distance, in order to be verified on the mini-map.

Kirito had originally intended to go alone, but he was caught on his way out of town by Keita's guild – The Black Cats of the Full Moon, and they requested to go along. Unable to reject their earnest request, Kirito allowed them to tag along.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sitting on the hot sand, Kirito suddenly noticed that another player had sat down beside him. He turned to Sachi, the only girl in the group, and the person who he taught how to use the shield and sword fighting style.

"Kirito-san, sorry for having to bring us along, have we become a burden?" Sachi asked, Kirito being slightly surprised as how acute her observation skills were. He didn't want to put the lives of the Black Cats at risk, and took extra measure to ensure the path was free of random encounters.

"No, not at all, if anything it's safer to have a group of people to travel with." Kirito replied quickly.

"Still, if anything were to happen, Kirito-san would be slowed down because you'll be trying to save us." Sachi looked slightly down, and Kirito patted her on the head.

"Look, if I thought you guys were a burden, I would have said no. I won't deny that this scouting mission is potentially dangerous, but I believed you guys could handle it, and that it'd be a good experience. We'll just be careful and everything will turn out fine."

Sachi nodded, as if she understood, then continued to drink her coconut quietly.

Kirito sent a quick message to Klein and Argo, then continued to move along. It would be another 5 minutes before they reached the area, and if they were lucky they'd discover the obelisk within the hour.

Kirito's found his estimates to be overly conservative, when the mountain of sand in front of them collapsed, revealing a giant scorpion. Kirito inspected the giant scorpion – [The Poison Tail] – L20, and behind it stood a black obelisk extending two stories high.

Quickly drawing both his blades, he charged forward to block the Scorpion's first attack, behind the Black Cats quickly followed Kirito's leads and got ready. They had trained long and hard in preparation for a boss battle like this, and every member of the Black Cats' were in high spirits.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes 'the higher one climbs, the further they fall.' Keita's and his friend's enthusiasm were chilled with one stroke of the enemy's attack. The Scorpion unleashed a whip of its tail, and a green cursor appeared on everyone's body.

Falling backwards, Keita and his group saw that more than 30% of their HP had been depleted in one hit, and the poison marker mean that they would not heal HP, but actually lose HP over time.

"Fall back and POT!" Kirito's bellowing knocked the Black Cats back into their senses, as they tried to remember what Kirito told them about fighting boss monsters. They staggered away from the boss, and fumbled with their potions.

Kirito, in the meantime, was not having an easy time either. He had predicted that the field boss would be hard to fight, and originally wanted to get assistance from his floor clearing group. However, his plans were thrown out the window by this sudden encounter, and he was stuck in a situation where he would have to solo the field boss – without the sufficient 10-level gap.

Blocking each claw with his blades, and dodging the tail that attempted to impale him, Kirito tried to stall for time, it would be dangerous to attack the mob without a full party, and he did not want to risk triggering the boss' rage mode through recklessly attacking.

However, stalling the mob indefinitely was impossible, even for Kirito. Keita and his group watched as Kirito's HP slowly decreased, and finally went into the yellow just as they had.

"Kirito, switch out!" Tetsuo charged back in, as Keita and Ducker followed, their HP having recovered. Sasamaru and Sachi followed behind, slightly lagging due to their slight hesitation.

"Ha!" Kirito managed to deflect the scorpion backwards while creating room for the Black Cats to attack, he was weary that they were attacking in desperation at this point, and it would be dangerous if anyone were to make a mistake.

"Make sure you don't go too far, concentrate on defending. DEFENSE!" Kirito yelled, as he downed another potion, and summoned his menus to call for aid.

"GWAH!" Kirito barely managed to finish his message when the voices of his allies broke the continuous fighting sound. Tetsuo had been knocked flying by the scorpion's tail, and the defense line began to crumble.

"Sachi, switch in!" Keita cried desparately, but noticed that Sachi was frozen in place.

_Not good! _Kirito charged full speed, noticing that the scorpion had its tail in preparation for a piercing sting.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Kirito yelled, but he was too late to make it, he watched as the tail of the scorpion glow green, as the streak of light headed straight for Sachi.

"UGH!" Sachi was pushed away in the nick of time, and Keita body was pinned to the sand by the Scorpion's tail. Kirito struck out with both blades, barely preventing the successive claw strikes that would indubitably have snuffed out his life.

"Pull him away and heal him QUICK!" Kirito yelled to Sachi, who finally snapped out of her daze and pulled Keita away from the Scorpion. Kirito held his ground as the scorpion continued its relentless assault.

All of a sudden, the scorpion backed off, and started emitting a familiar dark aura. Kirito looked above the Scorpion, and realized that its HP had dropped to the last of its three bars.

_Oh no!_ Kirito thought, he had forgotten to tell Ducker and Sasamaru not to attack the Scorpion too aggressively, as it would drop its HP to the point where it would trigger its Rage Mode.

"Back away! NOW!" Kirito bellowed again, as Ducker and Sasamaru looked at him with puzzled expressions.

The two did not have much time to think about Kirito's words, as the Scorpion swept its tail in the sand, creating a shockwave that hit the two players, sending them flying far behind the group.

_I hope they're OK, at least they won't suffer successive attacks._ Kirito thought, as he tensed his nerves.

The black aura had increased in the scorpion, and if he was correct that would mean that his damage on it would decrease. It's tail whip was also a dangerous attack that would likely inflict a stun as well as poison.

Glancing behind his shoulder, Sachi was tending to Keita, who's HP was slowly recovering back into yellow. However, the poison and paralysis status put him completely out of commission. Looking at the Scorpion, its name became [The Cursed Poisoned Tail], with four green HP bars, an aura of darkness emitted from its body, sending chills down Kirito's spine.

"Sachi, pull him further away, and retreat." Kirito ordered quietly.

"But then you'll…." Sachi protested lightly, still shaken up from the earlier attack.

"I must stay here, you guys need to retreat." Kirito spoke calmly, he knew he had no choice but to stall. It would be a race against time…

"GO NOW!" Kirito yelled as he charged forward, preventing the scorpion from advancing.

The Scorpion was faster in its darkened form, and every strike it dealt Kirito made his senses numb, slowing his reaction down slightly. Kirito rolled away from the whipping attack from its tail, and pushed off the ground quickly before the claw could impale him on the floor.

Having pulled Keita a good distance from the field boss, Sachi looked at Kirito in amazement. She could not understand where he drew his courage from, despite staring death in the eyes. Sachi knew Kirito was strong from the moment he saved her and her friends from the Elder Treant, but it was only later that she realized that Kirito's strength did no stem from his level or equipments.

Throughout the short six days after she met Kirito, no, it was perhaps long before then, Sachi wondered why there were people that did not fear death. Ever since Kayaba declared the beginning of the game of death, Sachi saw her own fate as sealed. She would slowly break down, torn apart in her fears, and succumb to the darkness.

_What was the point of fighting? If all that awaited us was death?_

It took great effort for her friends to pull her out of her room in [Starting City], which she was grateful for, but even then she knew deep inside that she was merely going with the flow, and that death had never left her side.

_Even if we stuck together, we'd just prolong the inevitable…_

In the last several weeks, Sachi knew that she was being protected by her friends, even as they slowly leveled their way through the beginner levels. Keita had kindly offered her a support role, and he and Tetsuo ensured that no harm ever came to her.

_Keita was kind, but by bringing me our entire group will now die sooner._

Last week, she finally thought her time had arrived when the group was being attacked by the Elder Treant. In her mind she actually felt at ease, expecting everything to end, her friends, her fears… her life. Yet, the appearance of the black swordsman forcefully changed her fate, she would have to live another day, to slowly find her answer.

_So what is 'he' fighting for?_

*slash* Kirito's dodge was a little slow, and the Scorpion's claw grazed his arm... a numbing sensation took over his hand, and he was about to lose his grip. Quickly activating a [single shot] throwing skill, Kirito threw his [ Longsword] at the Scorpion, stabbing it into his body. The monster arched up as Kirito jumped away making some distance.

_It's all over, we're done for. RUN! Run while you can!_

In Sachi's eyes, what Kirito was doing was prolonging the inevitable, even as strong as he was, he would be unable to defeat the field boss and save them this time. At this rate, his name on the [Monument of Life] would be scored out, and in a few more moments her own name, as well as the rest of the Black Cats, would follow the same routine.

_Still, why was he fighting so hard? He could have abandoned us and fled, he could have tried to hide himself. Why did he choose to fight?_

Kirito's stance was disturbed by the Scorpion's tail whip, and struggled to regain balance. At this moment, he realized in horror that the scorpion's head was glowing, using a skill that it had never used before.

The scorpion rammed Kirito into the air and slammed it back downwards using its tail. Sachi saw Kirito's HP bar drop into the yellow, as his rolled on the sand, she met his eyes and was able to read his lips.

"_RUN!" _Kirito's voice was silenced due to the stun status of the attack, but Sachi understood perfectly. At the same time, something clicked in her mind, and she lunged forward with her shield and sword.

*CLANG!* The scorpion's claws smashed heavily onto Sachi's buckler, causing her feet to sink into the ground. Any other day, Sachi would probably have fallen to her knees due to the impact, but today she did not bulge. It wasn't because of her superior equipment, or the fact that she leveled up from the last time. There was one simple reason.

"_She needed to protect…"_ the reason was so simple that Sachi didn't know why she never noticed. Pushing the scorpion back with her shield, she glanced at Kirito's surprised eyes, and let out a smile.

_Thank you for protecting us so far, now it's my turn._

Sachi charged forwards, deflecting the Scorpion's claws swiftly with her shield. She was surprised how easy it had become, and the attacks seemed feather light compared to Kirito's sword swings when she was practicing with him.

_I must buy Kirito-san some time to recover, that's the purpose of a forward_

Sachi remembered Kirito's words - that the most important thing a forward needed not strength, not equipment, but the ability to remain calm while under danger. At this moment, she knew that the lives of her friends, all that was important to her, rested on her shoulders this time. Oddly, in comparison her fear of the enemy, her fear of death, seemed like the light breeze on her face.

Dodging the boss' attacks systematically, Sachi noted that her HP was slowly diminishing, though it did not cause her to panic as she used to. Focusing on the boss' next attack, she continued to buy her allies time, time that she owed them for all the time she was their burden.

All of a sudden, the boss' head began to flash red, and Sachi remembered this as the attack that defeated Kirito just moments ago. Kneeling down and securing her shield with both hands, she dug her stance into the ground and endured the boss' charge.

As the weight on her shield became lighter, she moved her shield upwards to block the tail strike from above – which did not happen. Surprised, she suddenly remembered Kirito's words, as she saw the Scorpion's tail sweep towards her from the side.

"_Be careful when the boss is its Rage Mode, as its attack patterns may be different each time."_

"ahh…" Sachi exclaimed as she took the entire weight of the scorpion's tail, sending her flying away, her HP bar falling into the red zone. She witnessed Ducker and Sasamaru get hit by this attack, and knew she would be stunned.

_Everyone, I'm sorry that I failed you… _Sachi though as she flew through the air heading onto the ground.

The impact that she expected did not happen, as her fall was broken when Kirito caught her. Smiling as he lowered her onto the floor, he patted her on her head.

"Good work, you saved us all there. Now it's our turn." Sachi watched as Kirito walked calmly towards the Scorpion, his HP bar was completely full.

"You were wonderful there Sachi…" Keita, who had also recovered, gave Sachi a potion. Sachi turned her head to Keita, as well as the other Black Cats behind him, and smiled. "I'm back."

Kirito looked at the Scorpion, who was still at the same amount of HP as before. Sachi didn't manage to harm the scorpion much, but that fact that she bought the group precious time - all that he needed. At this point, there was no chance at all that anyone would be harmed.

"Sorry for the short notice, I hope you guys are ready…" Kirito joked, as he watched his allies arrive.

"Whenever you are." A chestnut-haired rapier-user stepped up beside Kirito.

"Klein, can you guys hit the obelisk, I need it down to weaken the Scorpion."

"Consider it done!"

"Silica, I'll leave distraction tactics to you."

"I'll do my best."

"How are you finding your new hammer Liz?"

"At 3H3S, it's enough to squish this critter."

"I'm guess Argo's taking pictures?"

"Of course, make sure you guys give me good poses."

"OK… let's go then!" Kirito shouted, and the group charged forward.

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"I'M SORRY!" Kirito kneeled in front of the [Black Cats of the Full Moon], begging them for their forgiveness.

Keita and his guildmates didn't know how to respond, especially since Kirito just saved their guild.

"I'm sorry for my buddy here, he should have done his scouting run properly," Klein bowed also, "instead of proceeding careful and gathering information, he charged in recklessly and almost got you guys into danger as well.

"Well," Keita explained "it was our fault for making Kirito bring us along, so it's not really his fault."

"Still, I underestimated the enemy, and bought you guys along despite having limited information about this scouting run…" Kirito apologized again.

"Hey come on now Kirito, unexpected things happen, and as long as we turned out alive and well, there's no point apologizing. Just answer me one thing…" Keita asked.

"Just don't ask about his harem or you'll be jealous… guh.." Klein's joke was cut short when Kirito elbowed him in the ribs. "What is it Keita?"

"These people are you clearing group right? Is that why you rejected our invitation? If it's so we can understand." Keita bit his lip, it was the first time he saw the fighting potential of a clearing group, and the difference was overwhelming.

"Don't mind this idiot here… he's just got this screw loose inside his head, and keeps saying that he's a solo player that doesn't associate with people… but then he keeps meddling with other people's lives and dragging us into trouble." Lisbeth laughed.

"But I **am** a solo player…ouch" Kirito protested as Asuna hit him on the head.

"And WHO was it that told me to join a guild when someone invited me? And that there's a limit to soloing?" Asuna glared at Kirito, who looked down.

Keita looked at his group, and they all started laughing. The clearers weren't as different as they had thought, they were all people that were trapped in the game, people that got connected together by the boy in front of him.

"I understand now… Kirito, as I said before, we'll become stronger, and one day when we are we'll ask you to join us again." Keita said cheerfully. "Thanks for helping us for so long, and in the future, please take care of us all."

The Black Cats of the Full Moon all bowed to Kirito, who ended up completely flustered. Everyone then laughed at his reaction.

"So, I guess one obelisk is down… we'll let the ALF and DDA handle the other two… let's grab lunch now… Oh, and I forgot to mention whoever got the LA pays the tab..." Klein said, and everyone, even the Black Cats, looked at Kirito.

"NO WAYY!" Kirito's voice echoed throughout the sand dunes.

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**[Date: December 12, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Mountain Area]

Leafa walked slowly on the mountain path, her [King's Broadsword] held in front of her arms with both hands. In front of her a [The Rocky Dragon] – L.20 flapped its gigantic wings, blocking the path to a black obelisk.

_Patience, I must wait for the right moment…_

The winds seemed to die down for a second, and the player and monster awaited for each other to make the first move. Leafa look a step, and the dragon flew up, preparing to dive at Leafa. Suddenly her sword glowed a bright green.

_NOW! _

Leafa charged past the dragon, and landed her sword skill – [Avalanche] on the obelisk. The obelisk cracked instantly, but did not break. Leafa quickly dropped her sword, and followed up with a martial arts skill – [Cannon Punch].

A large *clang* sound was heard, and the obelisk shattered into a million fragments, creating a loud sound. Leafa did not wait for her ears to register the sound, as she picked up the sword and ran full speed away from the dragon.

_One down, three more to go…_ _wait for me Onii-chan… I'll come to protect you._


	47. Divergent Paths

**Floor 10 - Divergence**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 12, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [21:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Outside Dixie]

Kirito held his two swords up in attack position, facing off his opponent – Sachi. He looked at her for any openings that would allow him to land a hit, but he saw none. Smiling, he took a forward and took a light stab, luring his opponent to block with the sword and provide an opening.

Instead of using the shield, Sachi darted forward and blocked the sword with her own, then spun and used her shield as a bludgeon against Kirito's head. Kirito ducked as he jumped to the left, returning the attack with his left blade, which was avoided when Sachi jumped backwards.

_Good, she's pretty much as good as I am with one sword now… hopefully her confidence would get better._

Kirito sheathed his swords, and walked to Sachi as she did the same.

"Thanks for today" Sachi bowed as Kirito patted her head. Kirito smiled, "Well, you can tell Keita that you've graduated. All that's left is for you guys to get used to fighting the mobs in the front lines… it won't be easy, but I'm sure you'll handle somehow… just remember what you need to feel when you want to protect someone."

"Yes, I will… thanks for your advice Kirito-san." Sachi bowed again.

"and you don't really need to address me as '-san', aren't you older than I am?" Kirito complained.

"But you've taught me so much… besides, you seem like the '-san' type for people like me" Sachi quipped

"Ah alright… whatever you like… anyways you'd better head back otherwise Keita will get worried again." Kirito cautioned like an old geezer.

"Haiii… Goodnight Kirito-san!" Sachi waved as she skipped away.

"Now… time for some training myself…"

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**[Date: December 12, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [23:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Boss Room]

Leafa walked into the boss room in disbelief, she had intended to scout the room to see whether the boss was still as mentioned in the guide. However, she did not expect the boss to be simply missing.

_It was weird enough that I only found one obelisk, but now the boss is missing? It doesn't seem like the boss has been defeated, otherwise the news would come out instantly… What's with the game information guide being incorrect? Did they make a mistake about the game data?_

Looking around, Leafa still did not find any people or any traces of recent fighting. Walking to the back door, it was unlocked.

Feeling slightly uneasy, Leafa convinced herself to walk up the stairs.

_The guide says that the 11__th__ floor is generally easier than the 10__th__, let's just hope that it's true…_

Convincing herself to push back her fears, Leafa walked up the stairs into the unknown 11th floor.

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**[Date: December 12, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [22:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Desert Area]

It's been a while since Kirito actually felt exhausted after fighting a group of mobs solo, having been part of a group for the last while. He'd try to convince that he was still a solo-player at heart, but somewhere inside he realized that an irreversible change had occurred.

_Could it be that I've gotten used to having people around? That I've become reliant on the company of others? Reliant on relationships that were not real and could collapse at any time?_

Returning his sword and sitting down in the field, he recalled the time since he first stepped out of the city. It was almost odd how he never managed to stay alone for too long, unlike the beta test where he rarely had anyone to accompany him. He realized that under the death-game condition, it was more beneficial to have a training partner, but still he did not understand the core question – why did _he_ feel uncomfortable ?

_Ever since I found out that my parents had died, everything seemed to be unreal. My parents, sister, even my own identity. I'm definitely not a Kirigaya, but was I even a Kazuto? It was finally due to online gaming that I found myself. __**Kiri**__gaya Kazu__**to, Kirito**__, that was the name that I gave myself, the only name that was truly mine. _

Ever since he realized the truth of his birth, he systematically separated himself from others, even his family. By immersing himself in online gaming, he could use his created image to interact with others. There was no need to worry about building relationships, because everything was fake to build with, Kirito understood that well, and had no problem building relationships with people, and ending them – afterall, it was not real.

_Even so, the Kirito that I created was nothing more than a shadow of my true self, it was the thing that kept me strong, the thing that kept me from becoming something else. Yet this time, the Kirito that I created was destroyed and replaced with my true self. But was I slowly becoming the Kirito that I wanted to shape? Or was Kirito being shaped by things that were not part of me? Were the relationships that I built real? Or are they merely fake bonds created to pursue virtual goals?_

Lost in his thoughts, Kirito did not notice that the mobs had respawned. As Kirito heard the sound and turned around, a [Desert Scavenger] had jumped from the ground, and was apart to sink its fangs into Kirito's neck.

*clang*

The Scavenger was knocked back by a white streak, followed by a flurry of white comets that quickly destroyed the mob. Kirito looked up and saw the irritated face of his savior, "What's with you? Dozing off in such an area? These mobs may be weak, but if they all attack you it's still possible to get killed."

"Uh… sorry.. sort of got lost in thought there." Kirito got up, and quickly drew out his sword.

"Well… since I happened to pass by, I'll help you take out these mobs. I wasn't worried about you or anything OK?" Asuna said, as she sent Kirito a party request.

"Acknowledged." Kirito smiled and replied, as he clicked the 'accept' button.

While fighting alongside Asuna, Kirito quickly realized that all the issues that he had soloing were solved simply by having the opportunity to switch out, even with minimal teamwork. Furthermore, he had more drive, and that leveling was not only easier, but it was more enjoyable. Still, a voice seemed to be holding him back

_Have I become weak? So weak that I can't continue without relying on others? What happened to the strong independent person that I was? Did I lose myself sometime between the beta and this moment? What if I have become weak? Is it OK to place trust in the bonds created by people in this game?_

Kirito looked at Asuna, who happened to be looking his way. Watching her quickly avert her gaze, Kirito thought to himself.

_Well, there's no need to worry about that yet. Maybe I've just not gotten used to things yet. I'll have tons of time to figure that out and find myself… after all, I'll be with these people for a long time to come._

Kirito smiled as he continued to level in the party. Little did he know that tonight would be the last time partying with Asuna for a long time to come.

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**[Date: December 13, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [09:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Dixie Diners]

Breakfast was unusually busy, unlike the other mornings where people would not wake up until later. The tables were crowded with people who were deep in discussion, and Kirito's group was one of them.

"IMPOSSIBLE! We just destroyed the one obelisk yesterday!" Asuna exclaimed. Sitting opposite to her, Kirito was equally surprised. He remembered the strength of the floor boss, and it was almost impossible for a unidentified group to have been able to defeat it.

"That's not all" Argo continued to relay the information, "According to my sources, the boss was not eliminated, but rather it suddenly disappeared…" Suddenly a wave of silence took over the entire room.

"How is that possible? We just fought the boss several days ago, is this some kind of joke?" Lisbeth asked, as she put down her cup.

"Didn't Kirito-san say the boss was an [Immortal Object]? Could it have disappeared when we destroyed the obelisk?" Silica asked.

"Were the other obelisks destroyed as well?" Kirito faced Argo, who had an uneasy expression.

"Well, the DDA and ALF actually formed a combined party, and destroyed the obelisk in the forest. It didn't exactly go well though, and they lost two people." Another silence took over the room.

"To make things worse, they didn't actually kill the field boss, but rather they just destroyed the obelisk and fled." At this point Kirito did another facepalm.

"Why didn't I think of that earlier?" Kirito exclaimed.

"Oh well… all's well that ends well…" Lisbeth tried to cheer Kirito up

"So Argo, does that mean that the 11th floor is accessible now" Asuna asked, to which Argo nodded.

"I confirmed that myself. The 11th floor warp-point Unis, was already accessible when I checked it this morning at 7:00, so it must have been cleared sometime late last night or today morning." At this point Asuna got up.

"In that case, what are we waiting for? We've got to start leveling on the next floor."

"Wait." Kirito's voice seemed to object to Asuna's suggestion, which surprised everyone.

"We should be more careful, since we still do not know the conditions that caused the 11th floor to open." Kirito held out a key, "This key was supposed to open the door leading to the 11th floor, but somehow the door became opened.

"And?" Asuna asked.

"Well.. there's definitely something fishy about the opening. There's also the issue that the 'floor quest' hasn't been completed yet." Kirito continued. "If possible I'd like to finish that quest before proceding."

"Why does finishing the quest matter? Hasn't our main objective always been to 'clear this deathgame and return to our normal lives'?" Asuna's voice started to become a little agitated, she understood Kirito's reasoning, but she didn't like it.

Kirito did not miss the accusing tone in her voice, he understood her reasons, but somewhere inside was the voice that he had neglected all the time.

_Why was she getting mad at me for not doing everything to 'clear the game'? Is returning to the normal world that important that I need to rush, and maybe even endanger everyone's lives? _

"Well, there are two reasons, first of all, the quest that was left unfinished potentially harmed players as well as NPC's, so even if that quest is halted, there's no telling when it might reset and potentially affect players."

"We'll just leave notices to tell players to be careful." Asuna retorted.

"Secondly, usually the floor quests give information about the boss battle, and sometimes about secret areas or skills, and also information about other floors. That information may become useful." As Kirito finished, Asuna gave a long sigh.

"So basically, you're trying to say that we should delay our floor clearing until we finish the quest, since the information _may_ be useful? Now here's another question? What about the six floors below this one? Do you plan to finish those floors before continuing as well?"

Kirito did not know how to answer. He was originally planning to bring up the topic after clearing the current level, but since the floor had been mysteriously cleared his plans have been thrown to the wind.

_Why is she so against my exploring the lower levels? Is it that necessary that I participate in accordance to the clearing group's wishes? Is there anything actually wrong with me checking the lower levels out before continuing?_

"Still, it's hard to say especially considering the circumstances. I still think it's worth at least checking out before moving forward rashly." Kirito continued to object.

"I don't approve, and I nor will any of the other people on the clearing group. You're the highest leveled in the game at this moment, and we need you to be constantly pushing forward. We can't have you wasting time on quests that only _may _be useful, especially if it pulls you to the lower levels." Asuna retorted, visible irritation showing on her face.

"What does my level have to do with this? I'm merely suggesting to explore the levels completely before continuing to push forwards? Why is that 'wasting time'? and why would any approve or disapprove of my doing so?" At this point, Kirito was also starting to become agitated by Asuna's words.

"Kirito-kun, are you serious about what you said? Don't you understand that apart from clearing the levels, there is nothing else that is important? Since you joined in the clearing group, you should know that we bear the responsibility of getting players out of the game. There's no time for you to waste on unnecessary things." Asuna asked in a surprised voice.

_She's starting to sound like my grandfather, telling me to practice kendo because it's my responsibility. Well, it's not… I did not want to start practicing kendo, nor did I want to join a game where I could die. Granted I don't regret gaming, if it comes to that, but still… why are we having to bear responsibility, to the point where we cannot live as a person inside the game?_

"No, I don't understand, nor do I want to understand. I admit that I want to complete the game and return to the world, but I cannot say that nothing is important in this game. It is unfortunate that we are stuck in here, but I cannot live my life in a robotic style, leveling day by day for the one purpose of getting out." Kirito rejected Asuna's claim clearly.

"What's that? So you actually want to enjoy this twisted game? Do you know that every day we're stuck in here, all of us are losing a day in our real lives? This game has already taken over 500 lives, and with the way things are going, we might as well all be dead if we can't clear the game." Asuna snapped, her month of tension finally overcoming her sense of reason.

"Do you know that even if we survive this game, we'll still be completely behind in our real lives? People who had a job will become jobless, and students like you and me will fall behind on our schooling? I don't know about you, but I can't afford to spend another extra minute gaming away my life if I can help it."

"…" Kirito fell silent, he knew all the time that Asuna wanted to leave the game desperately, but he did not know that her hate for the game was to such an extent.

"So, you're saying that nothing in the game really matters? (Yes) How about the people you met here? (…) The experiences with us? (…) Does any of that matter? Is all this just a footnote to the grand scheme of 'clearing the game'?" Kirito asked.

Asuna fell silent at Kirito's questioning, as she did not know how to respond.

"Asuna, I can understand your desires to clear the game, but sometimes I really think you should slow down and take a break. Nothing good will come out of pushing yourself too far." Kirito continued to reason with Asuna, while fighting a voice inside his own head.

"… you don't understand." Asuna softly whispered, then suddenly she lost control. "How could you talk as if you understood me? Even in the game we've barely met for a month, what makes you think you understand me well enough to tell me to slow down?"

This time Kirito was the one to be stunned in silence, he completely forgot that Asuna was a stranger a little more than a month ago.

_She's right… since when did I forget that I just met her, along with everyone else? Here I am, trying persuade her to slow down when maybe to her it's the same as her trying to get me to level all the time…_

"It's enough," Asuna continued, "if you want to continue to waste your time here, by all means go ahead. I'm afraid that I won't be joining you from now on, I have things that I must do in real life, and I can't hold myself back because of your desire to 'complete the game'…"

Asuna got up from the table, and began walking out as the group watched her in silence. While passing by Kirito, he heard her mutter "You've become weak…", and the words shook Kirito greatly.

_Perhaps I have… maybe that's why I too feel uncomfortable about the current situation…_

Kirito saw Lisbeth and Silica looking at him, and understanding their intention, he nodded. The two got up quickly, and left the diner's to chase after Asuna.

"Excuse me for a moment…" Kirito sighed, as he too left the diners, albeit heading the other way.

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"Hey Kirito, you feeling OK…" Klein asked Kirito as he caught up to him, it seemed Kirito was expecting him and didn't walk away full speed.

"Yeah, I suppose… well not really." Kirito sighed, "I guess I just don't have what it takes to become a good leader. Come to think of it… why was I the leader anyways?"

"Now come on… you've gotten us this far, so you've done a splendid job." Klein tried to cheer Kirito up, but he seemed to reject him.

"It's not true, I failed to notice Asuna's feelings on the matter. I focused solely on my wishes, the safety of the current status quo, and did not consider how desperate she had become do to the fact that we were unable to progress further…"

Klein listened to Kirito silently, and spoke. "So, what shall we do at this point?"

"Klein, you should be asking your guild that question. I've already dragged my party down, the last thing I want to do is cause issues in your guild. Listen to what your guild wants, and you'll be able to make the correct decision, a decision that I was unable to make." Kirito replied calmly.

"Easy for you to say, when you're looking from an observer's point of view." Klein laughed

"Perhaps…" Kirito answered.

"How about you?"

"I don't know, perhaps I'll go down alone. It has been a while since I played solo, but if it's a lower floor, I'm sure that I'll be fine." Kirito spoke as if to comfort himself.

"What about the others?" Klein asked

"I'd like them to stay with Asuna if possible, she needs them more… actually no, I'm lying… I guess I just want to make myself feel better by having them by Asuna's side." Kirito gave a dry laugh. "I guess she was right when she said I had become weak."

"I'm not trying to change your mind, but have you thought of giving up on the lower floors and just continuing upwards." Klein asked

"Yes I have. But something keeps bugging me." Kirito held out the key given to him "I was given this key, to either open the floor to the 11th floor or the 9th. If I had no choice I'd pick the 11th because it's my responsibility, I'd try the 9th floor if the key didn't disappear. But in this case, the obvious use of this key would be to unlock the 9th. I feel that there was a meaning behind the disappearance of the 10th floor boss, as well as the unlocking of the door."

"Well, in it looks like I can't stop you. Just one request though, can you at least ask around who wants to go to the lower levels with you?" Klein suggested one last time.

"I can't do that… every person that I pull from the front lines will endanger our chances at clearing the game. It's bad enough if I can't make it back for the 11th floor boss…" Kirito replied. "It's time that I return to being a solo-player after so long."

Klein nodded, and Kirito smile in response.

"Well, I'll be going now, take care of everyone for me OK?" Kirito raised his fist.

"You bet, now don't you be late for the boss clearing!" Klein's fist met Kirito's, and the two walked their separate ways.

**Author's Notes:** Not good… I still need a lot of practice in terms of screwing up the relationship of two characters… this is the third time I've rewritten the chapter and it still flows awkwardly…

Originally, I wanted to contrast the outlooks of Kirito and Asuna, which let to their temporary separation… but it turned out to be quite a mess…

Anyways… next chapter I'll be switching between parties (maybe)… let's see how it turns out.


	48. Continuing on his own

**Floor 10 - Continuing on his own**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes: Finally finished reading most of the chapters in Alicization... and OMG! What a story... definitely my favorite arc of the entire series. Wish I could include elements from that arc, but it looks like the only thing I can include is the short section dealing with PoH... too bad... I'll see what I can do though.

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 13, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [18:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Entrance to Lower Level]

Kirito laid on the ground on all fours, gasping for air. His arms and legs were aching, as if they had reached the limits. He had originally wanted to reject the notion of his friends seeing him off, but right now he was very grateful.

_I guess it's true that I've become weak... though surprisingly I don't feel too bad about it. _

"Kirito, are you absolutely sure I can't talk you out of this?" Klein asked as he sat on the floor beside him, behind him were his guild members, all sprawled on the floor and trying to regain their energy.

"I wish you could, but it seems that my hunch was correct after all." Kirito spoke softly, having no energy after the encounter with the floor boss. "There was definitely a reason that the 10th floor boss relocated to this room…"

"Kirito-san, we should tell Asuna-san, if they knew about this maybe we could convince the other clearing groups to join us." Silica suggested, lying on the ground while hugging her pet dragon like a cushion.

_Still, I wonder if it's OK for me to be weak to the point where I need others in order to survive? At this rate I'll eventually become a burden to everyone else, I must become stronger._

"It's fine, I'm going to take this exploration slowly so I should be fine by myself. I promise I'll keep in regular contact." Kirito replied.

"At least let our guild join you, we haven't joined the front lines yet, so it doesn't matter if we accompany you for these lower levels." Keita suggested, his Black Cats guild crawling on the floor, congratulating each other as they recovered their energy.

"No, you guys tried so hard all this time to join the frontlines, now's the perfect opportunity for you guys to make your guild known. I'll definitely be back for the next boss battle, even if I'm not done exploring these lower levels." Kirito answered as he got up.

Acknowledging the "LA bonus" for the 10th floor boss [Noir – The Cursed Elven Queen (weakened)], Kirito started to walk down towards the 9th floor stairs. His arm was grabbed before he could move, and he turned around.

"Kirito, are you crazy? You're not going down there tonight no matter what you say. Besides, you just got a new blade right? Give it to me now. I'll have it upgraded for you tomorrow morning." Lisbeth blocked Kirito's way, as she held her hand out demanding the sword.

Kirito paused for a moment, then sighed. "Thanks… I'll take you up on the offer. Guys, sorry but I'll need your help once more tomorrow morning."

_Just one more day of slacking off and relying on others, I suppose I'll have to get my hardened resolves back one way or another. After all, it doesn't feel right when I cannot continue alone._

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**[Date: December 13, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [20:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Dixie – Asuna's Room]

Asuna sat in her room alone, having not gone anywhere since her argument with Kirito. Lisbeth had chased after her right after she left the diners, but she merely brushed her off with a "Please give me some time to arrange my thoughts."

_I guess I owe Liz an apology later as well… _ Asuna thought to herself.

Despite her saying that leveling was everything, she had not killed a single mob for the entire day. Her mind was clearly in disarray, after realizing the fact that she never actually had such an argument with anyone at all.

_Why am I feeling so uneasy? It's as if I made a mistake and was regretting it deeply. I did nothing wrong though…_

Asuna had always been brought up to do the thing that was correct. He parents made sure she grew up the proper way, giving her plenty of opportunities to increase her growth, while staying away from things that would lead her life astray.

She had always followed the proper path, and never hit an obstacle. Naturally, she never had an argument with her family, as they were always right. It was probably the cruelest twist of fate, when she picked up her brother's NERVEGEAR and said the words that would trap her in this death-game.

_I must clear the game as soon as possible, I've already lost too much… but why do I feel so terrible even though I made the proper choice?_

Asuna got up from her bed, and looked in the mirror to prepare to head out to level. Looking in the mirror, she noticed the earrings that Kirito bought for her, despite saying that they didn't fit her.

_Why is it only now that I start realizing that the boy was right? These earrings really don't look good on me._

Asuna materialized the silver trident earrings that she bought herself, the ones that Kirito had originally recommended, and equipped them. Looking in the mirror, the silver tridents twinkled in the moonlight, and matched the chestnut-haired beauty perfectly.

"Baka…." Asuna mumbled, as she walked out the door towards her leveling spot.

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**[Date: December 13, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [20:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Dixie]

Coming out of the diners, Kirito noticed a familiar figure, he was about to call out to her, but midway he stopped.

_I'm sorry Asuna, please take care. _

Kirito bowed silently, then turned around and caught up with his group who had gathered in the 'arena' section of the town – basically a dead area where there was enough space, but nothing to do in the area. Kirito was using this area to guide the Black Cats on floor boss formations, and was finishing his plan to combine the Black Cats into the clearing group.

"So, if there is a time where Agil and Tetsuo are both rotated out, I'll need Sachi to step forward and defend against the boss, meanwhile I'll need Ducker and Silica to attack from the sides as a diversion. Liz, Sasamaru, you two will keep pressure on the boss, and the others will attack when there is an opening." Kirito explained.

"More than likely, you'll have Klein's group to support you as well, but even if you are isolated, this formation should be sufficient to hold the party strength before Agil and Tetsuo finish potting. Later on once we can afford more healing crystals, the situation will become better, but for now refrain from using those crystals unless it is a life-threatening situation."

"Uh… Kirito-sa… Kirito, you'll be here when we fight the next floor boss right?" Sachi asked nervously. Kirito looked at his 'student', and gave his honest answer, "I'll try, so remember to message me when the boss has been found."

Sachi sighed in relief, "Thank goodness…" as the rest of the group looked suspiciously at Kirito.

"?" Kirito looked around without a clue, then continued, "well that's about it for formation, now, anyone interested in a little sparring?"

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One hour later, the group finished with the sparring practices.

"Man, Kirito, you're too much." Klein exclaimed, sitting on the floor. "Nobody was able to land a good hit on you… I'm glad you're on our side."

"Not true… Silica hit me plenty of times with her throwing picks… and you've caught me plenty of times as well…" Kirito replied.

"I meant actually hits that do damage… the closest one that I've seen today was when Sachi-chan there almost caught you with her shield." Klein clarified, "Imagine what it would be like if you could actually use twin-blade sword skills while wielding both blades. You'd be quite the monster."

Kirito smiled inwardly at Klein's comment, knowing that it would be a while until his [Dual Blades] skill becomes active, but in the meantime he could practice.

"Kirito, did you happen to learn martial arts when you were younger?" Keita suddenly asked.

"Well, my grandfather used to teach me kendo when I was young, but I quit half-way. I remember I got quite the beating from him that time." Kirito replied with an embarrassed smile.

"I see, no wonder your form is the way it is. Your grandfather must have been quite the master, to be able to train you to the point where you instinctively draw out your combat potential." Keita remarked on Kirito's natural ability to fight

"Well… if I must say, it's more like he literally beat the skills into my body, forcing it to remember." Kirito replied, as everyone laughed.

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**[Date: December 13, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [20:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Outside Taft]

The [Tattered Golem] lifted its rocky arms high in the air, ready to strike at his target, the glow of a sword skill activating. In front of it, the blonde-haired swordswoman stared at the golem intensely.

_I must concentrate, once it starts its attack I must dodge the correct direction. Once I dodge I can utilize the opening and strike the mob's critical point._

As the golem's arms start moving downwards, Leafa dodges to the left, and slashes her sword upwards. The green light of the sword meets with the red light of the golems arm, and Leafa is sent flying.

_Ouch! I messed up._ Leafa thought as she got up from the ground. Even with the guide that was provided to her, she still had not fully perfected the art of reading the monster's movements.

Lifting her sword sideways, she charged towards the monster, landing the blow that missed previously, and destroying the golem. Sheathing her sword, she drank a potion.

_Great, I messed up again, I'm going to have to restock soon at this rate. Sometimes I wish I had the gut instincts that onii-chan has. Though I suppose he inherited it from his parents…_

Suguha recalled what her grandfather told her when she was training in kendo, that she had 'good instincts but not as good as her brothers'. Now more than ever, she felt that his grandfather's words of 'your brother's instincts are _a little better_' actually meant '_much better_'.

Suguha could still remember seeing Kazuto train with her grandfather, where Kazuto would face her grandfather head-on, using his full force training him. Suguha, on the other hand, never had to face her grandfather going all-out. "There's no need, you're not like that idiot who can only learn with his body." was what her grandfather used to say.

Bring her thoughts back to her current reality, Leafa turned to the next mob, and continued to level.

_One day, once I find you, I'll make you continue kendo, Onii-chan._

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**[Date: December 14, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [09:00]

Location: [10th Floor – Entrance to Lower Level]

"Well, if all goes to plan… which hopefully we will this time… we will be facing the floor boss of the 9th floor." Kirito announced. He held his [Darkblade Katana 5S3D] in his right hand, and motioned to his group.

"Remember, we have to always be prepared, and be ready to retreat. Unfortunately we don't have any information on this floor boss, so we have to play it safe." Kirito said as he watched his group prepare for the assault.

"Agil, Tetsuo and I will charge in to draw the boss' attention, and in the meantime get into formation and get ready to fight… on 3..2..1… GO!" Kirito unlocked the door to the boss room, kicked it open, and charged in with his group.

Kirito froze immediately the moment contacted the floor, which gave a different sensation. Looking around, the entire room was filled in what looked like sand, and the floor boss was nowhere to be seen.

"Be careful! The sand will slow you down, make sure you don't stand on one position too long or els…." Kirito's warning was cut short when the entire earth began to shake.

Looking around, he noticed that the sand had begun to move, and he realized what his opponent was.

"GIANT SANDWORM!" Kirito bellowed, as a large earthworm like creature appeared from the ground. Kirito looked at the towering monster that was at least 50 meters long, with a mouth at least 5 meters wide. [The Earth Eater] with five HP bars stood in front of the party.

Kirito gulped as he saw the monster, as expected this floor boss was not the same as the one in the beta, and looked much tougher. On the ninth floor, there were normal earthworm mobs named [Devourers], and they were feared by all of the beta players.

In additional to their high speed and strong jaws, the devourers were especially feared due to their two abilities – [Sand Blast] and [Burrow]. [Sand Blast] was a powerful aoe-ranged attack that used the sand to blast at the players HP, a fast attack with low cooldown. [Burrow] was even more dangerous, where the mob would hide in the sand and emerge to attack players. Many beta players died because of the attack, so despite its low HP and weak defenses, [Devourers] were usually avoided apart from the best players.

Fortunately, Kirito had fought these [Devourers] on many occasions, having learnt its attack patterns through repeated encounters and deaths. He hoped that these experiences would be helpful in dealing with the giant version.

"Spread out and surround the boss, run if its head is facing you. Klein, take the tail; Keita the middle" Kirito ordered, rushing towards the side of the mob's 'head section'. The Devourer's weakest part was the end of it's head section, where its flexibility sacrificed defensive abilities.

During this time, Klein's group had moved to the tail portion of the Devourer. Launching their attacks, the Devourer's first bar of HP started to decrease quickly.

"Take that, you overgrown worm!" Klein exclaimed, as he cut into the worm's tail, adding to the many red marks that were engraved there.

"Dodge when the tail glows!" Kirito yelled, as he jumped onto the Devourer's head section, proceeding to slash its head with both blades. At this time the Devourer's tail lit up and, performed a sideways slash, causing Klein's group to retreat.

Kirito slid down the Devourer body, and ended up near its midsection, joining the Black Cats on their offensive. The middle section was the safest area, and the group was doing well.

"Keep at it!" Kirito said to Keita, "But make sure you watch the head, it'll come back to try and bite at you." At this point the entire Devourer started to glow, Kirito and Keita's group quickly moved backwards.

"Agil! Liz! Silica! Move back, it's going to dive! Watch the head!" Kirito warned his companions, as the worm rose into the air and dove into the ground.

"Keep moving! Feel the vibrations! Make sure you dodge it when it jumped out of the ground!" Kirito bellowed, as he watched his comrades scatter.

He felt the ground beneath him tremble, and leaped forwards just in time to evade the Devourer's attack. Rolling out for the way, he held his sword in defense.

"DEFEND, it's going to shoot sand!" Kirito got on one knee as the worm spitted a torrent of sand towards his direction. He held both swords out to block the sand blast, as it chipped away at his HP. Beside him Agil was blocking with his axe in front of Silica, and Sachi was shielding Ducker with her shield.

"Guys, hold the boss for 15 seconds!" Kirito jumped backwards and drank his potion, as did Agil and Sachi. The rest of the group continued the assault against the boss, soon the second HP bar had depleted.

Running back to the front lines, Kirito warned. "Stay on alert, this is going a little too easy. Even if it's just the 9th floor boss…" However nothing surprising happened, and soon the third HP bar had vanished, and the forth bar was about to follow.

"Almost time for its Rage Mode!" Kirito announced, as he blocked the Devourer's head on attack with his swords, [Uppercutting] the Devourer's head upwards, he jumped to the base of the worm and launched a 7-hit combo, [Meteror Break], putting the boss' HP into the last bar.

Immediately, [The Earth Eater] burrowed into the ground, and the entire room began to shake. In the middle of the room the sand began flowing into the ground, causing a puling effect towards the sinkhole. Shortly after, more than 50 [Devourer's] emerged from the sands, and began to attack the people in the room. However, it would seem that this 'special boss attack' was no match for Kirito and his group.

"That's it? Almost seems too easy…" Lisbeth commented, as she flattened a [Devourer] beside Kirito. Being at the level where she had a 13 level lead over the mobs of the 10th floor, she effortlessly disposed of the mobs.

Kirito looked around, and saw that it was the same case with the other members, even Keita's group, who were still below level 20, had no trouble dealing with the [Devourers]. While it was a good thing, something bothered Kirito about the difficulty of the boss fight.

_Usually the boss fights are much harder than this. Despite the fact that we're above level, we're handling the boss fight without breaking a sweat. There's something wrong… especially the mobs that just spawned, they seem too easy… unless!_

Kirito's worry was answered when the ground shook violently again. The Devourer that was creating the sinkhole had resurfaced, and launched an omni-directional [Sand Strike]. Kirito was pinned down by the [Sand Blast] as he noticed a shadow forming below the spot Sachi and Silica were standing, and watched in horror as another [The Earth Eater] swallow the two girls as it emerged from the ground.

"SACHI!" Keita's voice roared in the room, as he bolted towards the new Devourer, and Kirito was barely able to intercept him before he got rammed by the Devourer.

"Keita, regroup with your guild and take out the first one quickly!" Kirito grabbed Keita's shoulders.

"But…"

"Listen! We'll suffer more damage if we have to deal with two of these worms! I'll save them, I promise." Kirito's calmness affected Keita, as he nodded and headed back to his guild. Kirito then faced [The Earth Eater].

_I always thought about this scenario, but I never thought I'd be stupid enough to try it… here goes. _Kirito thought as he downed three potions in quick succession – healing, anti-poison, anti-paralysis.

Kirito pushed off his feet, and sprinted full speed towards the head of the newly spawned floor boss, then jumped headfirst into the mouth of the worm. Blocking the jaws with his swords, he disappeared into the insides of the worm.

"What did that idiot do?!" Klein exclaimed in horror as he witnessed Kirito being eaten by the worm, beside him Keita ran to his side.

"We can only trust him for now. Come on, we'll have this one dead within the minute." Keita held his staff in an aggressive fashion, and charged towards the dying Devourer.

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_I'd better hurry…_ Kirito thought as he walked towards the two girls inside the worm's body.

He was correct in his assumptions, and that the interior of the worm would contain a constant damaging effect, in addition to the paralysis effect. He reached the girls quickly, and holding them one by one, he gave the two girls the antidotes.

"Ah.. Kirito-san…thank you"; "Kirito, thank you." The two girls thanked Kirito as he helped the two on their feet. The insides of the worm created a very unstable ground, and the two struggled to keep their balance as they drank their potions.

"Well, that was easier than I thought, but with this our party's lost three attacking members… I hope they're OK… let's get out of here somehow." Kirito said.

Suddenly, the entire chamber shook, and Kirito was thrown onto the floor.

"Ouch!" a voice came from under Kirito, as he realized that he had fallen on top of Sachi.

"Sorry!" Kirito said as he quickly got off, but another tremble caused him to fall on the ground again.

"Kirito-san, here" Silica stretched her hand out to pull Kirito up, and he grabbed it just in time for another rumble to cause Silica to fall on top of him.

"Why won't this worm stop moving?" Kirito complained, as he realized that it was futile to try getting up unless the worm stopped moving.

All of a sudden, the entire interior of the worm started glowing.

"Uh oh! Hold on, this is going to get bumpy." Kirito quickly grabbed hold of Sachi and Silica, to their surprise, and the entire chamber turned upside down…

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"Are those three still there?" Klein asked over his shoulder, as he watched [The Earth Eater] disappear into the ground below, behind them Keita was accessing his menus.

"Yes… so all we've got to do is free them." Keita responded, to which Klein nodded.

"Good, so just one more to go... hopefully…" Klein got ready for the eventual surfacing of the worm.

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Kirito's head was still spinning from the impact, he looked around, and realized that they were further down inside [The Earth Eater's] innards.

"Are you two OK?" Kirito looked at the two girls lying on top of him. If it was any other situation, he's probably end up in a lot of trouble, but right now he needed to confirm that the two girls in his arms were still alive and well.

"The world's still spinning, can I sleep here for a little longer Kirito-san?" Silica's weakly responded, clearly she was not in shape to fight.

"I'd like to say the same, but we need to get up Silica-chan… oops…" Sachi's arms betrayed her as she fell back down onto Kirito.

"I'll take that as an OK then… do you still have your weapons?" Kirito opened up his menus, he had [fumbled] both of his weapons, and needed to choose whether to try and find them or equip another one.

"I still have my dagger." Silica replied, as she slowly got up. The ground was still trembling infrequently, so she still had trouble standing still despite her [Acrobatics] skill

"Sorry, I lost both…" Sachi was not as fortunate, as she got up she quickly lost balance, and fell back on all fours.

"OK, guess I'll use this for now." Kirito materialized his [Pain of Fear] dagger, and equipped it on his right hand, sitting on the floor.

"What should we do now?" Silica asked, as she held onto the 'wall' of the Devourer.

"Well, we're inside the mob… I wonder if we can hurt it?" Kirito took out his throwing picks, and performed a [Take Five] shot. As the picks hit the 'wall', the mobs HP decreased slightly.

"That's odd, the damage is actually significantly less than when on the outside… guess I'll attribute it to the worm having thick stomach linings?" Kirito pondered, then an idea struck him.

"If I can damage the worm from the inside, how about this?" Kirito spoke as he lifted his dagger in the air, then stabbed it onto the floor. Instantly, the floors stopped moving.

"Gotta love the paralysis effect of this dagger" Kirito smirked.

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"What happened to the worm?" Lisbeth asked, as she jumped back from her attack.

[The Earth Eater] had suddenly stopped moving, and above its icon, a paralysis indicator began to flash.

"Maybe you stunned it? Who cares? FULL ASSAULT!" Klein shouted, and the entire group attacked [The Earth Eater] simultaneously; countless strokes of red landed on the mob horizontally, vertically, and diagonally from all directions.

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Kirito watched as the last HP bar of the worm disappear slowly, he smile and spoke to the two girls.

"Looks like they did it… we're going to be let out soon." Kirito spoke joyfully.

The two girls cheered as they skipped/crawled over to Kirito, who was still sitting on the ground.

"Kirito-san, so what's going to happen to us?" Silica asked, to which caused Kirito to suddenly shiver.

He wasn't sure about the floor boss, but if the algorithem's the same as the [Devourer]…

"Uh oh… hold tight again!" Kirito spoke quickly, and as if on cue the entire chamber began to shake again.

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As [The Earth Eater]'s HP reached zero, it suddenly did curled itself up, and jumped into the air, Klein and the group watched as it landed with a shockwave, sending everyone flying backwards.

Exploding into crystal shards, [The Earth Eater] disappeared, and each player's [XP Gained] box appeared. As Klein and the players cleared the boxes, they saw the three players that had been 'consumed' by the floor boss.

Kirito laid face up, with all his limbs spread out, on top of his chest Silica was spinning with confusion, and Sachi was mounting Kirito's stomach with her face red as a tomato.

"Kirito, what did you get yourself into this time?" Klein asked in exasperation, but Kirito did not reply.

Walking up to his friend, he noticed a blank expression on Kirito's face, and his eyes did not have the color it usually had.

"Yo! Kirito! WAKE UP!"

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Kirito woke up to the faces of his worried comrades, apparently an hour after the boss was defeated. Luckily all the weapons were retrieved, and Klein returned Kirito's blades to him.

"Thanks for your help everyone, I suppose this is where we part ways for now." Kirito said to his allies, as he prepared to walk into the 9th floor labyrinth.

"You sure you don't want us to accompany you?" Klein spoke like a broken record, to which Kirito smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely contact you guys if I need help." Kirito nodded to Klein's group and Agil.

_Thanks for staying with me for all this time, but now from this point onwards it's going to have to be by myself. If I keep relying on everyone, I feel I'll lose myself... sorry..._

"Don't forget to maintain your equipment, and remember to bring back souvenirs!" Lisbeth joked, and Kirito gave her a thumbs down, watching her stick her tongue out at him.

Kirito cast a glance to Silica, and shook his head. He knew that she wanted to come along, but at the same time she promised Kirito that she and Lisbeth would look after Asuna.

Nodding to Keita, Sachi, and the Black Cats, Kirito opened the door back to the 9th floor labyrinth.

He would be facing the next challenges solo, but he knew in his heart he wasn't alone.

_One day, maybe I'll become ... Until then, please accept my selfishness._

**Author Notes:**

Sorry, ran out of space/time to switch between parties… hahahaha… *ouch*, OK I'll get to it next chapter (I hope)…

Finally, Kirito's back to being a solo-beater, though the lower levels should be a walk in the park, right?


	49. No Man's Land

**No Man's Land**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 14, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]

Location: [9th Floor – Desert Labyrinth]

Kirito gave a self-loathing laugh as he looked around him, at least 50 [Desert Scavangers] had surrounded him, having accidently tripped a trap because he underestimated this level. His HP was now in the red, and slowly recovering, but he had taken more than half of the mobs, and wasn't too worried.

_Guess it's a good chance for me to continuing levelling my [Battle Healing], at this rate I'll be able to break 500 soon. Wish I didn't have to do it with an actual risk of dying though._

Raising both blades, Kirito charged the left flank of the mobs, and without using sword skills he began hacking away as the mobs that attacked him. The [Scavengers] were unarmed, but had sharp claws that could severely hurt Kirito if a critical hit was dealt, however they were easily our ranged by Kirito who had finally mastered the mob's lightly revised movement pattern.

_Yup, my fighting style is still as ridiculous as before._ Kirito thought as he sliced apart the last mob, noting that his HP was in last 10% as it continued to be raised by the potion's healing effect.

_I'd better get used to fighting alone again, without any comrades to back me up, making a single mistake will cost me my life._

Walking out of the labyrinth, Kirito was greeted by an endless plain of sand. The skies were without a single cloud, and nothing stood out as far as the eye could see.

_Yup, that's the desert level that I hated so much… I can't wait to be done with this level._

Kirito opened his map, and began heading towards the direction of where he thought the town was.

**[Date: December 14, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [14:00]

Location: [9th Floor – Town of Gaia]

After more than three hours of travelling in the desert, Kirito finally arrived at the town of Gaia, the only town on the entire floor. He recalled that this floor ended up holding back most of the beta players, the majority giving up due to sheer boredom.

The town was hardly populated, with a handful of NPC shops, and a single inn that only had 2 single rooms. For this reason most players made their hometown on the 8th floor, in the town of Friben. The ones that ventured into the 9th floor were the most hardcore of players, and through their efforts the 10th floor finally got opened.

Kirito was very tempted to just walk down to the 8th level, but reminding himself that he was here to explore the floors he decided to at least walk around first. Heading down the only street in the gloomy town, Kirito noted that the number of NPC's actually decreased, and several 'collection quests' were no longer available.

After a late lunch, and an hour of walking around, Kirito concluded that there was nothing in town that was of interest. As he turned towards the pathway to the lower floor, he suddenly noticed a new NPC that had a "!" symbol on his head.

Walking to the NPC, Kirito greeted the NPC who was an old man.

"Greetings strange wanderer, it is not often that we see new faces in Gaia. Have you come from the far lands?"

"Yes"

"Then you probably haven't heard of the legend of Gaia that has been passed down through the generations. Do you wish to know about it?"

"Yes"

"Very well, but first let's talk about our town." The old man started explaining the quest. "Many generations ago, our lands were an endless plain of green, with rolling plains extending to the ends of the earth. The fertile lands provided all the essentials that our people needed, and the people in our town never knew of hunger or thirst."

Kirito sat down, expecting the old man to continue for a while.

"But then, one day, the single tree that provided our vast lands with its nutrients fell down and disappeared. The trunk of the tree never grew another tree, and all that came out was a long black thorn. Our best woodcutters and strongmen attempted to cut the thorn so that new growth could occur, but all of them failed."

"Would you like me to have a look?" Kirito finally spoke, as he saw the "?" mark on the NPC's head.

"Why thank you traveler! Our village is eternally grateful for your help, please take this map, it will lead you to the location of the thorn." The old man said to Kirito as he passed him the map. Kirito looked at the map, and added the location of the tree to his own minimap.

Before heading out of town, Kirito headed into the NPC shops, and he was surprised when he noticed that the equipment in the shops here were the same as the ones on the 10th floor. Noting its irregularity, Kirito headed out into the endless desert.

With the updated map, it only took an hour to reach the tree, though Kirito noted some odd things, including how there was an extra type of spawn for mobs, mobs that were [Mutated]. He found those mobs significantly harder to fight against, and that they were significantly higher in level.

_Guess it's another change in the system? I wonder if this is the work of Kayaba? Or whether it's the Cardinal system adapting to my coming down to lower levels. I'll have to find out quite a bit later, when I reach the supposed higher limit of the level._

Expelling those extra thoughts, Kirito looked at the giant tree stub that was the remains of the 'legendary tree', it was over 10m in diameter, and in the middle of the trunk was the black thorn that the NPC talked about.

Kirito looked close at the thorn, and gave it a light tap. The sound of the thorn sent shivers down Kirito's spine – it was definitely in the class of [Demons], possibly with more HP than the rock he destroyed while training for martial arts.

Drawing his Darkblade, Kirito used a [Horizontal] on the thorn, and the thorn stopped his blade dead in its tracks. Looking at the thorn, its HP has only gone down by several HP, it would seem that it was impossible to remove the thorn.

As Kirito decided to give up, he noticed someone else surprising – the fact that the thorn's HP had recovered. That indicated that the thorn was actually living, since its HP regernerated. Looking at the tree again, Kirito realized another truth.

Inspecting the base of the tree, Kirito saw no roots digging into the ground. If anything, there were many branches that protruded from the ground, reaching slightly out of the ground and looking like roots. As this point, a crazy thought entered Kirito's mind.

_What if this was not the bottom of the tree, but the top?_

It seemed like a ridiculous idea, a tree that was over 100M tall, but then Kirito realized that there was a tree that was similar on the 3rd floor. Kirito examined the tree again, looking at the way the trunk's 'roots' were buried in the ground, he was 100% certain that the roots were not actually roots, but dried up branches that had lost its ability to create leaves.

_Now the question is, what would cause such a tree to die out at this level? According to the quest information, the tree was once in full bloom, and an 'event' caused it to dry out and collapse. Whatever the reason is it looks like I have no choice but to venture one floor lower, since this floor is as deserted as… a desert._

Sticking his tongue out at his bad pun, Kirito remembered that he was currently the only person on the floor, and that all how companions were on other levels. A strange sense of loneliness struck him, and he tried shaking it off.

_It's just the first day and I feel like it's been a long time, that won't do… what happened to the me that used to love being alone?_

Kirito got up, and shook the thoughts out of his mind. He would do some leveling on the new [Mutated] mobs, before returning to town and preparing for tomorrow's raid on the 8th floor boss.

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**[Date: December 14, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Town of Unis]

"So after all that work, we end up in a barren land… I hope Kirito's doing better on his side." Klein complained as he set foot on the broken rock, looking around as his guild-mates and companions followed up the stairs.

"It looks like we're the last clearing group to get to this floor." Lisbeth said, behind her Silica was looking around like an excited puppy.

"It really is all rocks everywhere… we should show this to Kirito-san." Silica pepped.

"Well, we can drag him over here once we find the boss room, until then let's not disturb the guy." Klein spoke hesitantly, though he knew it was the right thing to do, he couldn't help thinking that things would not be safe for Kirito.

"Klein-san, do you think it's OK for us to come along?" Keita asked Klein, who turned around and reassured the green guild leader.

"You guys will be fine, especially since you were trained by that idiot. Heck, I just received a few days from that guy, and look at where our guild is standing right now." Klein gave Keita a thumbs up, which made Keita even more nervous.

"Klein, you know by doing that you'll make them even more nervous…" Lisbeth sighed, as she brought out the system menu. "How about this? Silica will join your party, and Agil and I will act as rotating defense for both your group and Klein's. That should make up a little for Kirito's absence, though I'd suggest you find a permanent party member if you want to join boss raids permanently."

"Uh… OK… thanks for the support" Keita responded, as Silica joined the group.

"Sachi-san, let's work hard and surprise Kirito-san." Silica said to Sachi, who immediately perked up.

"Come to think of it, where'd Asuna-san go?" Klein asked, noting that he hadn't seen her for the entire time.

"She went ahead with the ALF and DDA, don't know if she's trying to get us organized so that we can get our piece of pie." Lisbeth replied.

"Hmm, that's a good idea, since we got shafted in the last few united raids." Klein said.

"Though we still managed to get the LA, I'm sure the DDA and Kibaou must be furious." Agil added.

"Things will probably be harder if Kirito doesn't come back for the boss raid, so we'd better make up for the slack." Klein motioned the group, and they started heading for the town of Unis, they would equip and rearm, then head for the main town of the floor - Taft

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **

**[Date: December 14, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Outside Taft - Abandoned Ruins]

Leafa walked the abandoned ruins carefully, noting that [Ruin Golems] might appear at any time. At her current state, she would be able to handle a single Golem, but since this area had multiple spawns the best way to pass would still be to avoid detection.

Suddenly her eyes widen as she noticed the familiar figure of a boy that wielded a shield and sword. He was currently in combat with two [Stone Golems], and looked like he needed help.

Charging forwards without regards for the possibility of hidden ambushes, Leafa cut her sword across the front section of the left golem, and then grabbed the shouldder of the boy.

"AKI! Why are you here all of a sudden?" Leafa yelled as the boy listened silently.

"Ah! Leafa-san, this place isn't safe, we should escape." Aki's response almost caused Leafa to faint due to frustration.

"You should have said that earlier, too late now, let's take them out!" Leafa said as she charged forwards. "STAY AWAY!" The blonde-haired girl warned as she activated [Spinning Demolisher], cleaving both golems multiple times before stopping. As one of the gobems dispersed in to polygons, the other attacked.

*CLANG* The golem's rock was blocked by Aki's [ Buckler], as he slashed his [ Longsword] into the golem. The golem shattered at the attack, and Aki put down his sword.

"This place isn't safe to level in yet, let's go back to town." Aki spoke emotionlessly as he started walking back.

"HEY! WAIT UP!" Leafa tried to catch up to the boy, but it's as if Aki was a ghost, the moment he turned the corner, he disappeared into thin air. Puzzled, Leafa looked around and muttered to herself.

"Just what is with that guy?"

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**[Date: December 14, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [11:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Taft]

As Leafa walked back into the streets of Taft, she noticed that she was no longer the only player. She quickly moved into the shadow of one of the darker alleys, trying to avoid the crowd as she did not want to associate with too many people.

Looking at the new players on the streets, many of them had either a black icon with white diamond, or a blue dragon icon beside their cursors, showing that the player belonged to a guild. Leafa observed the various people, and came to the conclusion that they were probably the larger floor clearing guilds.

_From what I heard, I'm guess these are the two largest clearing guilds so far - The Divine Dragon Alliance, and the Aincrad Liberation Forcce. Though it would probably help me level faster, I'd like to stay away from these guilds until I find Onii-chan..._

Leafa was occupied in her thoughts, and didn't realize that she was about to bump into one the people that she least wanted to.

"Ugh! Watch where you're going!" A player with a kansai accent scolded the girl, as she regained her balance.

"Sorry, I didn't see where I was going." Leafa quickly apologized, and quickly turned to walk the other way, but her arm was grabbed by the stout man with a spiked hairstyle.

"Wait just here, so you're going to just bump into me and walk away? Don't think just because you're a girl that you can get away with anything." Kibaou looked at the girl with fierce eyes.

"I didn't mean to bump into you, and I apologize if I have offended you." Leafa quickly bowed, and tried to leave, the but cactus-head did not let go of her arm.

"You know, a girl like you really shouldn't be on the front lines. You should just stay back on the lower levels and let the big boys clear the floors." Kibaou and his two companions started laughing. "How about this, you give us your sword and shield, and we'll let you off. A weak player like you doesn't need a good sword anyways. You don't want to become an enemy of our guild do you?"

Leafa looked at the man's cursor, and quickly recognized the ALF guild icon, she hesitated on whether to listen to the man. On one hand she didn't want to be on bad terms with a major guild, but at the same time she would not be able to obtain another [King's Broadsword]. Although Leafa had an appearance of a much older player, at heart she was still a child and did not know how to react.

"So, what are you waiting for? Just give us the sword and be on your way." The three players advanced towards Leafa, who took a step back in fear. Just as the three were about to grab Leafa, a voice stopped their advance.

"STOP RIGHT THERE! What do you think you're doing?" A girl slightly older than Suguha - though in character they looked the same age, stepped in front of the three players.

"Kibaou-san, I don't think Thinker-san or Diabel-san would appreciate your tainting of ALF's reputation here. So why don't you guys move along?" The girl held onto the hilt of her rapier as she spoke, "Or would you like to settle in a way that more fits your barbaric nature?"

"Che! What right do you have to interfere in our business? You're just a lowly mistress of that thieving beater, miss Asuna-san." Kibaou's smirk was met with a rapier pointed at his face.

"One more word insulting Kirito-kun, and you'd better be prepared." Asuna quietly stated as she sent a duel request to the cactus-haired player.

"... you'll pay for this... " Kibaou spit as he and his companions turned around and walked down the alley.

"...phew.. that was tiring" The girl sighed as she returned her rapier to its sheath, then she smiled gently as she turned to Leafa "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine... thank you for saving me back there." Leafa replied with a bow, observing the player that just rescued her.

_I never knew there were girls like this that played SAO, she looks like someone from a high-class family. At the same time, her presence was overwhelming when she confronted those thugs._

"No problem, it's important that we girls stick up for each other in this game where that are too many weird guys." Asuna joked, and then held out her hand, "Oh, by the way, my name's Asuna."

"I'm Leafa, nice to meet you Asuna-san." Leafa shook Asuna's hand.

"So Leafa-san, what brings you to this floor? I don't usually see too many girls on the front lines, especially without a party." Asuna asked.

"Well, I didn't have any friends that logged on with me, and this is my first online game..." Leafa spoke with hesitation, as she didn't know whether she should mention her brother.

"REALLY?!" Asuna suddenly raised her voice in surprise, "Then you were just like me then. I first came into this game without knowing a thing about online gaming... actually my brother purchased the game, and somehow I ended up playing it due to my curiosity."

Leafa couldn't believe what Asuna said, that she ended up here completely by accident. She already considered her brother to be very unfortunate, being stuck in the game that he loved playing. Never considered that there would be others that would be stuck in the game through bad luck, especially in SAO where ten thousand people actually had to line up for the product.

"I know, it's hard to believe, I still try to tell myself that this isn't real." Asuna continued, "But instead of brooding over the facts and bad luck, I want to fight until I get out of this cursed game."

"Asuna's really strong," Leafa exclaimed, "I don't think I would have been able to leave the city..."

"Well, you're here in the front lines now, so it makes sense to keep fighting for our freedom." Asuna pointed down the street, "Want to join me for a while, I'm going back to my leveling party? It'd be a good chance to introduce you to them."

"Uh... " Leafa hesitated, she did not know whether it was wise to join a large group, especially if it was a clearing group. She didn't want to be bound to the group's responsibilities as she looked for his brother.

"Don't worry, I was just like you a month ago, just wanting to finish the game without associating with anyone. You'll get used to it soon, and it'll definitely help with your odds of survival."

Leafa still felt slightly uneasy, but nodded her head obediently at Asuna's earnest invitation.

"Well, since that's decided, let's go grab lunch - my treat. The group should arrive here in a few hours, so we can eat while we wait." Asuna grabbed Leafa's arm, and the two of them walked down the streets of Taft, heading to a new phase of their adventures.

**Author's Notes:**

So, with Kirito heading solo, and Leafa meeting up with Asuna, eventually the siblings will have to meet... I'd better figure out a way to make this work...


	50. Unexpected Situations

**Unexpected Situations**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 14, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [16:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Taft Tavern]

"I'm Klein, bachelor, 21, single, nice to meet you!" Klein blurted out before getting slapped by a smithing hammer on the head. Leafa watched in shock as Lisbeth calmly put her hammer back in the inventory.

"Klein, don't think that since Kirito's not around that you can get away with that..." Lisbeth gave Klein a devilish smile.

"Oh, and also, if you're going to emphasize that you're single, at least don't do it twice in a single introduction..." Asuna sighed, then turned to Leafa, "Sorry about Klein, he's sort of weird, but a nice guy at heart."

"OK..." Leafa did not know how to react, being completely caught up in the situation before she knew it. When Asuna mentioned that she would be meeting her friends, she did not expect to meet such a large group of people.

"Anyways, Klein here is the leader of the guild [Fuurinkazan], and Keita here is the guildleader of [Black Cats of the Full Moon]. We recently joined together with the intention of leveling together, as well as for the floor boss raids." Asuna explained, as Leafa got introduced to the various members.

"So basically, instead of splitting up and joining one of the two clearing guilds, we are planning to unite the remaining players in the clearing group, so that we do not get treated as side-liners during the raid. So would you like to join us Leafa-san?" Asuna concluded.

Leafa looked at the group assembled at the table, they seemed like nice people, and the atmosphere was very comfortable.

_Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to join these people, and since onii-chan should be at the front lines, I should bump into him soon as well..._

"I'd be glad to join, please take care of me." Leafa replied with a bow, and the group cheered at the addition of its newest member.

"By the way Leafa-san, did you happen to fight the [Angry Bull] when you were on the second floor?" Asuna suddenly asked.

"Uh... yeah, I think so..." Leafa tried to recall her memories, as she went through each one of the field bosses she fought.

"So, Leafa's the 'Beautiful Swordswoman' that people were talking about..." Silica excitedly continued, "the rumors were true afterall."

"Well, she definitely had the face, and the body." Lisbeth grinned, eyeing an embarrassed Leafa from head to toe.

"Ah... Lisbeth-san..." Leafa shyly looked away.

"..." The guys in the group silently watched this exchange, not knowing what to do, while burning the scene in their memories.

"Anyways. We'll stop grilling you before the boys here lose control." Lisbeth laughed, then whispered in Leafa's ears "I hope you're ready for tonight, because you're joining us for a long talk. Right Sachi-chan?"

"Right..." Sachi replied weakly, recalling how tired she ended when she first got introduced to the group, it was a mix of pure embarrassment and nervousness... with the occasional fear that she would let out something that she shouldn't have.

Soon afterwards the dinner was dismissed, and Leafa attended a slumber party that she would not forget for a while.

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:30]

Location: [8th Floor – Boss Room]

_Maybe I shouldn't have played the 'cool guy' and tried to solo these levels myself. _

Kirito dodged desperately as he rolled to the floor, barely avoiding the floor boss' [Vapor Stream]. Watching his HP bar dropping to into the red zone again, Kirito quickly reached to his pouch to grab a potion.

To his shock all he grabbed was thin air, with not a potion left in the bag. Kirito's eyes widened as he quickly jumped away from the Dragon, and increased his distance from the mob.

Looking at the door behind [The Great Blue Dragon], Kirito noticed that the door back to the labyrinth seemed open, rushing quickly past the Dragon, he jumped through the doors and into the 8th floor labyrinth.

_Well, I survived... for now... guess I'll just have to carefully escape the labyrinth and head to a nearby village._

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Two hours later, Kirito arrived at the town of [Frisben], a small little town that had a few small inns and basic NPC supplies such as weapons and items. As Kirito walked to the teleport gate, he hesitated.

While it was true that enabling the teleport gate would enable Kirito to leave the floor, but it would also allow other players to come to the floor. Apart from the obvious possibility of danger, it was also possible that extra players would affect his ability to do the quest.

_Why am I hesitating? Now's not the time. Besides, even if players come here, as long as I can continue the quest it will be OK._

Kirito headed to the gate, and then tapped the activation segment. Oddly, the gate remained dormant, without any indication that it was going to turn on. Surprised, Kirito opened his friends list and messaged the person who was most likely to know about the situation.

[Argo, have there ever been teleport gate that 'failed to activate'?]

[Not that I know of]

[Can you go to the nearest gate, and see if the 9th floor is active?]

[Give me 5 minutes]

Kirito examined the gate, and saw that there were no abnormal issues, there were also no signs that suggested that a quest needed to be done. After 5 minutes, Argo's reply arrived

[Nope, just the 10th.]

[That could be a problem... so I'm guessing that I'll have find and meet the gate activation prerequisites... I'll keep in touch]

[Well, in worse case in a few weeks we should reach a floor where we can get teleport crystals... if the game brochures are something to go by.]

[Hopefully I won't be trapped here for a few weeks...]

[Do you want us to help you?]

[I'm OK for now... I'll message you again if I get in a pinch. Thanks]

Kirito sighed as he turned back to the town, the best thing to do now was to gather enough information about the floor boss of the 8th level, and see if he could find a way to defeat it.

_Like it or not, guess I'll be soloing for a while now... maybe I really should have called for help._

Walking in the small town of Frisben, he could not help but notice the coldness in the air, being the only player that populated the village. Even during the beta-test, Frisben became occupied shortly after the front lines cleared it, as it was one of the major spots for players to gather prior to clearing the 9th floor.

Walking into the tavern, Kirito found the NPC that gave the quest that led to getting information on the floor boss. The drunk man was sitting at a table, barely conscious.

"Whaddu want? I ain byeing u nodin..." The drunk man stuttered.

"Any good stories?" Kirito said, the same phrase he used to trigger the quest back in the beta.

"Yar! lo gud stary foya. go ci oldma Jock!" The drunken man pointed at a room upstairs, and Kirito slowly walked up the stairs to the room.

_Well, here goes_ Kirito draws his sword, then opens the door.

As expected, Kirito opened the door and was met with a cloaked young man (NPC) standing on top of the corpse of the old man (also an NPC). The young man, seeing Kirito, jumped out the window, and Kirito followed.

Running along the rooftops, Kirito followed the NPC that would eventually stop at a open field, he would then have to duel the NPC and take its [Target List]. Running through to the entrance of the field, Kirito suddenly stopped.

_If the past events are anything to go by, there's a good chance that the game has gotten harder. I'd better be careful._

Standing still, Kirito quickly activated his [Searching] skill, and true to his expectation, inside the bushes surrounding the field there were two more mobs. Kirito looked at the mobs' levels, and was surprised that these mobs were actually level 19 - much higher than what the beta had to offer.

_There's definitely something weird with the way these levels are set up. I recall Kayaba mentioned the self-regulation system - CARDINAL, was a highly adaptive AI system. Still it doesn't explain why the mobs at these lower levels are actually harder than the ones on the 10th floor. Unless..._

Sneaking behind the first of the hidden mobs, Kirito activated his strongest skill in his arsenal - the 7-hit [Meteor Break]. Normally a 7-hit skill would not be available until later floors, but this skill that involved the [Extra Skill - Martial Arts] allowed Kirito to combo his [Single-hand Sword] skills with his [Martial Arts], resulting in a very powerful combo attack.

Chasing after the first mob that he had sent flying, Kirito followed through with a sonic leap, hitting the mob another time before it landed. Drawing his other blade, Kirito lifted both blades and stabbed it into the mobs body, sending it into a shower of polygons.

_Good, the fight's going to be much easier if it's only two of them against me._

Pulling his blades out of the ground, Kirito faced the two NPC's that had surrounded him. He noted that the mobs seemed to show surprise at the fact that Kirito knew about the ambush, and seemed to have a personality that almost seemed organic.

_There's a good chance that this quest will be linked to be the previous ones, so I'd better be careful of the possibility of 'darkness'._

Blocking the attacks from the enemies, Kirito tried to position himself so that the enemy could not catch him in between the two mobs. He observed that the mob that originally lured him was wielding a dagger, and was less of a threat than the other mob who wielded the long-sword.

Pushing off his right, Kirito dashed into the range of the enemy wielding a long-sword, blocking the sword with his left, and slashing horizontally with his right. Jumping sideways to dodge the next attack, Kirito ducked and spun around launching a sweeping kick on the enemy, causing it to fall on the ground.

Not missing the opportunity, Kirito stabbed his left sword on the mob's chest, pinning it to the ground. He quickly pulled several throwing picks out of his pouch with his left hand, as he blocked the dagger-wielding mob with his right sword. Kirito quickly, threw the picks at the dagger mob, causing it to dodge backwards and give Kirito the time he needed. Activating his right blade, Kirito drew the number '4' on the mob that was on the floor, as his [Salvage Fulcrum] dealt a 3-hit critical to the mob that was still pinned on the ground.

Kirito did not wait for the shatter effect to occur, as he quickly pulled out his left blade and charged at the last mob, it was possible that it would enter 'dark mode', and Kirito wanted to deal as much damage as possible before the darkening occurred. Utilizing his range advantage, Kirito kept beyond the range of the dagger, and kept chipping away at the last mob's HP.

Suddenly, the mob was killed the old man dropped his weapon and kneeled on the ground.

"Please don't kill me! I'll tell you everything you want to know." The NPC's pleading caused Kirito to stop for a moment, he did not know of a sudden development such as this one.

"Here's the list of the people I need to eliminate," The mob dropped the [Target List], "please spare me and I'll lead you to my boss. He needs the people killed for his dark magic ritua..."

Suddenly the NPC was covered in a black fog, and Kirito watched in shock as the young man's melted away, under the melted robe he could make out sharp elven ears which soon melted with the rest of the body. As the black fog dissipated, a pile of charcoaled bones remained.

Kirito picked up the [Target List], [Location Map] and also a [Dark Ritual Symbol] from the remains of the pile of bones. Opening his quest windows, he noted that several previous quests had combined in his 'ongoing quests' section, and had become 'The Darkness (Unique)'.

_So I suppose this darkness quest replaced the floor boss quest, and is somehow connected to these floors being completely messed up. It would explain why I can't warp in these floors, and how the mobs are harder than normal. Still... I don't understand why Kayaba would write a unique quest that spanned so many floors, only to have it available to a single group of players..._

Looking at the [Target List], Kirito realized that the list had been completed, and according to the bottom of the list, once the sacrifices have been made then the next step would occur at the designated location.

Opening the [Location Map], Kirito was surprised that the location was in the centre of the map, where he originally wanted to find out whether the great tree on the 9th level originated from the 8th.

_Perfect, I can save a lot of time this way. _Kirito thought as he headed back to town, he would restock and start heading to the [Meeting Place].

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:30]

Location: [11th Floor – Outside Taft - Abandoned Ruins]

"So, we'll be training here today?" Lisbeth asked, as the group reached the ruins that were about 10 minutes away from Taft.

"Yup, Leafa said that the golems here are good to fight against." Asuna replied.

"These [Golem] types have relatively high HP and strength, but they are generally slower than the rest of the mobs on this floor. As long as we attack it as a group the mob should barely get in any hits before we can kill it." Leafa elaborated.

"That sounds great, I'd rather level safely rather than take too many chances..." Keita remarked, and the rest of his group nodded in agreement.

"In that case let's get going. Agil, you'll be joining me and my boys this time?" Klein asked, and Agil nodded in return.

"Asuna-san, are we going to join with the Black Cats then? Silica asked Asuna.

"Well, I don't see why not. Keita-san, you guys don't mind right?" Asuna turned to Keita, who waved his hands frantically.

"No, no, not at all..." Keita stuttered out, and made everybody smile.

"OK, in that case wel'll start right now." Asuna created her group consisting of herself, Lisbeth, Silica, and Leafa.

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Half an hour into leveling with the party, the group had gotten used to the golems, and were leveling smoothly without any expected issues. Sitting on the sidelines, Asuna was amazed at how Leafa handled the mobs, despite being several levels lower she was able to inflict almost as much damage. There was minimal unnecessary movement, and it was as if Leafa was trained to carry a blade from a young age.

"You're really as amazing as they say, Leafa" Asuna exclaimed after the group cleared the last mob in the spawn.

"Not really, it's just that I've practiced kendo a lot, so swinging a sword feels more natural for me." Leafa explained, "I think Asuna-san's more amazing, since you've never held a sword before you entered SAO, and yet you're strikes are so dazzling."

"I think both of you are really amazing, I wish I could use a sword like that. I'm struggling just to keep myself from panicking..." Sachi joined in the conversation, with Silica by her side.

"It's not true Sachi-san, you were really strong there, protecting the group with your shield and fighting the mobs with your sword." Silica said, "I think it was pretty cool how you were able to do that."

"Well, she was highly recommended by Kirito after all. If there's anything that guy's good at, it's his ability to find players with potential. Well, and the ability of getting his companions in trouble..." Lisbeth grinned, as she led the rest of the Black Cats back to the resting spot.

"You're overestimating me, Lisbeth-san. I couldn't even last a minute against Kirito-san when he used both hands..." As Sachi sighed, she noticed that the other girls had a knowing smile on their faces.

"For, the record, only Asuna's ever lasted over a minute against Kirito so far, so it's nothing to be ashamed of. Oh, and that's including Klein, Agil, and the rest of the people." Lisbeth explained.

"By the way, who's this Kirito person?" Leafa asked, "Is he really strong?"

"Well, how should I put it... instead of saying he's strong, I'd say he's just plain weird." Lisbeth laughed.

"First of all, he's really strong when fighting mobs, but sometimes he'll do the stupidest things." Asuna continued.

"Half the time, he'll end up dragging everything along, and all hell will break loose." Lisbeth added.

"But, Kirito-san is really strong, so he always gets us out of whatever trouble we get into." Silica said in Kirito's defense.

"Also, he tries very hard to protect us and lead us so we get better, I know I wouldn't be here if Kirito didn't save us." Sachi blushed slightly as she spoke.

"Heh... sounds interesting, I'd like to meet this Kirito person soon." Leafa smirked, "Maybe I'll see how strong he is for myself."

*BEEP* SYSTEM WARNING!

A sudden warning siren stopped the girl's friend conversation abruptly, as the skies suddenly flickered and turned into a crimson red... something that hasn't happened since the dreaded tutorial that trapped everyone in this death-game.

"What's happening?!" The sudden events caused a wave of panic, causing the girls lose their composure.

Looking around, the girls realized that all the mobs had suddenly disappeared from the fields. The winds had picked up violently, and in the distant thunder could be heard, shaking the very core of the floating castle.

Then suddenly, darkness.

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00]

Location: [8th Floor – Frisben]

*BEEP* SYSTEM WARNING!

Kirito looked up at the sky, something was definitely wrong.

_What could this be? The last time a system warning occurred was right before the tutorial, I have a bad feeling about this._

As if on cue, all the NPC's in town disappeared, and subsequently a blanket of darkness covered the entire area. Kirito looked to the horizon, and saw that lightning filled the skies outside of Aincrad.

_What is happening here?_

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00]

Location: [7th Floor – Pillars of the Seven Stars]

Under the darkened skies, lightning struck in all directions. Amidst the roaring thunder, the seven pillars began to glow a bright purple white. Strobes of lightning began to connect the seven pillars, and converged to a ball of blazing plasma.

All of a sudden, the ball of lightning exploded into a blinding light, and a shockwave shook the foundations of the entire floor. As the shaking subsided, silence returned to the 7th floor, and in the middle of the plateau containing the seven pillars, a young girl lay unconscious on the ground.

**Author Notes**: No remarks this time, so I'll leave a roadmap

Current floor: 11 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 9436 (+1? players)

**Characters:**

**Kirito 26**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1****st**** boss LA drop**

**Leafa 21**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 3H3S3D] 10/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 23 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**Silica 23**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 23**

**L20 [ Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 22**

**L12 [Felicia's Claws 7Q] 8/8**

**Klein 24**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 23**

**L20 [ Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 20**

**L20 [ Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[ Kiteshield]**

Keita - 19

Tetsuo - 18

Ducker - 18

Sasamaru - 18

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12


	51. Kayaba Side - Intrusion

**Kayaba Side - Intrusion**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Authors Notes 2: I'll be writing a crossover fanfic soon, with the possibility of incorporating characters into this SAO AU. Please support me kindly :)

**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Japan Standard Time: [12:00]

Kayaba sat at his console, staring intently at the screen while typing at his keyboard at blazing speeds. Beside him Rinko stood in awe over her mentor's serious expression, an expression that she had rarely seen over the past decades.

"It would seem that something interfered with the entire SAO server, and this time it is not an internal change instigated by Cardinal. This is most disturbing indeed, as none of the firewalls or detection systems were able to prevent or even locate the source of the intrusion." Kayaba uttered to his assistant.

"Is it possible that this attack originated from 'them'?" Rinko asked, to which Kayaba shook his head.

"No, it's probably not. The systems that the Americans use are several years behind the security suite installed in SAO, even taking into consideration their military-use variants. Besides, even if they developed a new system in the past few days, they would still be unable to avoid the counter-tracing system installed into the core of the Cardinal system." Kayaba explained.

"As for Sugou himself, I allowed him to access our servers so that he could make a copy of the cardinal system. By doing so, I've also ensured that his system will be compatible with further incarnations of 'The Seed', and that I can obtain total control over his system."

"So who could it be then? There shouldn't be any other party that would attempt to access the SAO servers for any other reason than to free the players." Rinko asked.

"Honestly, I do not know. From what I can tell, the intrusion actually occurred within one of the servers. That alone is extremely abnormal, as it would require a dormant Trojan or a similar program entity to exist in the server. However, this is impossible as the coding for SAO was checked several times, both by the both of us and Cardinal's self-regulating system." Kayaba bought up a screen, as Rinko walked over.

"As you can see, the intrusion occurred within one of our servers, and instantly set up its own defensive programs and firewalls within the server. All attempts by Cardinal to stop the infection were thwarted, despite seizing all server activities momentarily to prioritize processing power, and within seconds all information inside the servers had been accessed. According to our logging of the data access, all the information on the SAO servers was accessed within 1.5 seconds." Kayaba spoke as he brought up multiple windows on his screens.

"That's impossible! Even if the information transfer occurred at the theoretical limits of the servers, it would take at least 15 seconds to access all the information." Rinko exclaimed.

"This leads me to my hypothesis – that the system was accessed by something that exceeds our understanding of modern physics. I don't know how it happened, but someone, or something, accessed our systems, and an unknown phenomenon occurred. At this stage we can do nothing but scan through all the files in the system, and see what changes have been made."

"This unfortunately has become very difficult ever since you denied system access to all the vital files in the system." Rinko noted, and Kayaba laughed self-loathingly.

"It is true, I must admit that I dug this hole myself. Still, this intrusion did not seem to compromise the nature of SAO, in that I also consider myself lucky. I guess I will have to spend slightly more time outside to monitor the progress of the world, rather than participating as I original intended to. My other self will continue to thrive in the world though, even if its programming is still lacking."

"Are you sure that your character won't be discovered by the players?" Rinko asked.

"Nothing is for certain, but I don't suppose players will think too much into that issue. As long as I try my best to avoid certain players, the identity of Heathcliff should be safe. I will have to postpone the formation of the guild though, unfortunately. Luckily, our chosen hero has done quite the job in creating a force that will keep the clearing spirit alive." Kayaba smiled, "It also seems that Kazuto-kun's helping me investigate what Cardinal did to the lower levels, I just hope it won't put him into too much danger. To think that he would walk into the center of all the problems without a clue…"

Rinko frowned, "So you mean he didn't go to the 11th floor, but instead decided to proceed to the levels that were altered by Cardinal's system?"

"Yes, and to make things more complicated, it would seem that the original point of inception for today's server attack was the 7th floor of SAO's data files. It would seem that Kazuto-kun has the tendency to get himself into a great deal of trouble, though maybe it could be said to be his destiny – having been selected by both you and me. As much as I dislike having Kazuto-kun heading to the lower levels before me, he might be able to provide me with an explanation about what happened now that I must focus on other matters."

Kayaba smiled as he got up from his computer console, turning to the machine that he was working on. His latest work was nearly complete, and would be the final frontier to achieve what was his true goal.

SAO had set the stage for Kayaba to study how humans would react to a virtual world that was as real as reality, and now he needed to start the next stage – to allow a person to truly transfer himself into the virtual reality he had created.


	52. Retreat & Regroup

**Retreat and Regroup**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Just a few other notes:**

**1.) I guess I'll reply to comments on the next chapter now that I'm actually lagging behind on my releases now... orz... **

**2.) Anyone want to send me the list of names for all the floors? I'm sure there are still a few that I missed.**

**3.) Just a little more on the Kirito solo-arc... trying to wrap it up without making it seem rushed... still deciding how I want to proceed to the next arc.**

**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00]

Location: [8th Floor – Frisben]

Kirito looked around as the NPC's suddenly respawned, and continued as if nothing had happened. He quickly inspected his menu, and noted that nothing had been affected in the strange event that just occurred minutes ago.

_Good, at least the system error did not mess up any of my equipment or quests, I suppose there must be some kind of redundancy backup system to keep our character information safe._

Quickly typing a message to the people on his friends list in order to confirm their well being.

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Outside Taft]

Light quickly resumed on the fields of the 11th floor, and the players on the field quickly regained their composure, quickly scanning the area for hostiles they looked at each other for an answer, but nothing came up.

*Beep beep*

The silence was quickly broken by the sound of incoming messages, and several players checked their messages, and spoke.

"It's Kirito." Many of them said at the same time, then looked at each other and nodded.

"What's wrong?" The blonde-haired player in the group asked.

"Oh, it's just Kirito checking up on us." Lisbeth replied.

"Don't worry about him, you'll see him if he comes back from his vacation, and to the front lines." Asuna added, "Anyways, is everyone alright?"

"Yup, it was a little scary when everything went dark though" Silica got up from the ground.

"HEY! ARE YOU ALL OK?" Klein shouted as his guild rushed towards the girls.

"We're OK, how about you guys" Lisbeth yelled in reply.

"Well, I tripped over a branch when the lights went out, but otherwise everyone's OK." Klein joked, "Did you get a message from Kirito? Apparently the blackout occurred everywhere."

"It looks like a server-wide occurance, we'd better go back to town for the time being, the last thing we want is for this unexpected glitch to get us killed." Asuna said, as she started to lead the group back to town.

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:15]

Location: [8th Floor – Frisben]

_Well, at least everyone is safe. I'd better continue finishing my quest as well... Come to think of it, the items on sale here are quite a bit better than the items on the 10th level, so basically this 8th level has somehow become a 'special dungeon' level that's probably harder than the 11th floor._

Kirito quickly repaired all his equipment, and headed towards the [Meeting Place] that was indicated by the [Location Map].

The path towards the [Meeting Place] was closer than expected, and Kirito approached the area in around 30 minutes. Arriving in the dungeon leading to the place, the thing that was on Kirito's mind was not the quest though.

_What a large tree..._

The tree trunk that was cut on the 9th floor now towered from the ground up to the sky, creating an illusion that the tree was a pillar that supported the floors in Aincrad. Previously Kirito did not see the tree due to the clouds and slight fog in the air, but now that we was closer the tree was gigantic.

_Well, that proves that the stub on the 9th floor was actually part of this tree on the 8th, now if I could find out why the tree suddenly died out..._

A rustling in the bushes caused Kirito's mind to come back to reality, as he quickly drew his sword. The eerie silence that ensued caused Kirito's hairs on his arm to tingle, as he tensed up all his senses.

Suddenly, a small creature jumped out of the bushes, and stopped in the path directly in front of Kirito. Kirito looked at the label of the mob 'Ragout Rabbit', a mob that he had not encountered or heard of before.

Slightly interested, Kirito took out five picks with his left hand, and prepared his throwing weapon skill [Scatter Shot]. As the charged picks glowed blue, Kirito launched the picks at the rabbit.

As if reading the trajectory of the picks, the rabbit instantly jumped into the air, narrowly avoiding the five picks that would normally hit most mobs. Surprised, Kirito instinctively charged his right hand blade, and threw it at the rabbit as well.

Kirito soon witnessed a scene that he would normally think of as impossible - the rabbit turned its body mid-air, and avoided the blade by a hair. The rabbit then jumped off the side of the blade, and disappeared into the bushes again.

Stunned, Kirito looked at the place where the rabbit disappeared, and wondered what the rabbit was. Much later he would learn that he missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Picking up his blade that had dropped to the ground, Kirito once again continued in the forest path. He knew he wasn't far and that he would probably encounter a fight, so there was no space for error.

As Kirito approached the giant tree, he felt the air becoming darker and denser, almost to the point of becoming suffocating. He knew this sensation, for he had felt it before - it was the sensation of darkness. Returning his [Darkblade Katana] to his inventory, Kirito brought out his [Holy Knightsword], allowing the light from the blade to dissipate the darkness that was attacking his body.

_I must be close, if this darkness is any indication, the quests on these levels should be closely related, and it looks as if things will get much harder later on._

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:30]

Location: [11th Floor – Taft]

Returning to the town, the three groups of players returned to the tavern, in order to discuss the warning that appeared earlier.

"I just checked with Argo, apparently all the floors experienced the same thing - first the mobs would all disappear, then a short blackout would occur. Luckily, nothing at all happened apart from the two odd events." Asuna summarized her findings.

"So basically, it was just some freak incident with no consequences?" Klein queried

"Pretty much, at least nothing that affected the players so far. Still, we should be on our guard." Asuna warned.

"So do you think it's still safe for us to be on this level?" Keita asked, still concerned about how his guild still now sitting with the top players in SAO.

"You'll all be fine, it's not like you guys are leveling on your own. We're part of our group now, so we'll support you guys with all we've got. Soon you'll be watching our backs." Klein reassured Keita.

"So, Asuna-san, will we be going back to leveling soon?" Leafa suddenly asked, she had quickly finished the meal that the other players were still enjoying slowly, and was already equipped to return to the field.

"Wow... and I thought only Asuna and Kirito were level maniacs." Lisbeth said, which caused Asuna to blush.

"Liz, I'm not that much of a level maniac am I?" Asuna frowned, as she put her hands on her hip and looked at Lisbeth.

"Well... I suppose you're as much a level maniac as Leafa here... hehe..." Lisbeth grinned as she looked away.

"I don't know what that means, but I'll put that aside for now. Leafa, we'll head back for the ruins in after we finish lunch, is there anything else you want to do?" Asuna turned back to Leafa, after brushing off Lisbeth's comments.

"Actually, Asuna-san... we were wondering if you wanted to check out the town first, since we haven't actually had time to rent a house for our guild yet." Keita suddenly interrupted.

"Oh! That reminds me, neither have we..." Klein exclaimed, and earned a glare from Asuna and Lisbeth.

"In that case, Klein can go with Keita to rent a room quickly, then we'll meet at the training area at 2? That way we'll all have a little time to get ourselves together, how's that?" Asuna looked at Leafa, who nodded in agreement.

"Perfect, that'll even give me enough time to meet with Nezha. Oh, if I don't make it back in time, have Agil lead the group and I'll join you guys once I meet up with our newest recruit."

"Klein, did you say that Nezha was joining your guild? When did that happen?" Asuna asked

"Oh, Kirito sent a message to me, and said that there was a long range specialist that he wanted to recommend to us." Klein responded.

"Why didn't he tell me about that? Anyways, it's great that Nezha's joining Fuurinkazan, it's not every day that we see long range specialists in SAO." Asuna seemed to be slightly irritated at the mention of Kirito, but Klein pretended not to notice it.

"Yeah, so let's meet at the ruins at 2pm." Klein and his group got up, "Don't be late now, or these two will have wiped out all the mobs."

"No we won't" Leafa and Asuna replied simultaneously, as the rest of the group laughed.

"I guess we'll also look for a place to rent as well, see you soon." The Black Cats were the next to take their leave, leaving the four girls at the table.

"Leafa-san, where are you going in meantime?" Silica asked.

"I don't know, guess I'll go ahead and fight a few more mobs to close the level gap so I'm not so behind." Leafa suggested, at which Lisbeth frowned.

"That's too dangerous, especially at this floor. How about we visit the blacksmith? I'd like to have a look at your equipment... I'll cut you a good deal on upgrading it as well, as long as you don't get mad if I fail." Lisbeth grabbed Leafa's arm, and started dragging her out the diners.

"OK... uh... thanks..." Leafa thanked Lisbeth, and the four girls walked out the diners.

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After finishing the renting of the lodging for his guild, Klein separated from his guild and walked with Agil to the central plaza.

"So, Agil, what do you think about Kirito's recommendation? I don't know Nezha personally, but I heard he and his group of friends caused quite a ruckus during the second floor clearing." Klein's question was met with a nod from Agil.

"Well, from an objective point of view, Nezha did save at least 10 front-liners during the raid on the Taurus boss. There was the weapon scamming issue back then with his group 'Legend Braves', but after investigations the was no player killed as a result of the scam so they were let off." Agil recalled the events, and told Klein the important details.

"So now that Nezha's coming back to the front lines, I'm guessing that they made it up to the players that were harmed in the scam. I suppose there's not much harm having him or his group of friends join us right?"

"From what I heard, neither the ALF or DDA wanted to accept the six players in Legend Braves, and in the end they disbanded the guild they created. If Nezha's coming, I'm sure the others are likely to join as well."

"If that happens, Fuurinkazan's might overtake the ALF as SAO's largest guild." Klein joked as he shared a laugh with the tall axe-wielder.

"At the very least, it'll at least give us some bargaining power against the two other guilds." Agil suggested, as they reached the plaza.

"Talking about joining, when are YOU going to join us? You're pretty much the brains behind the guild, you might as well join as the sub-leader." Klein suddenly asked Agil, who smiled.

"In due time, there's something that I'd like to do first though..." Agil's reply was interrupted by the activation of the town portal.

Agil and Klein waited as the six players exited the portal.

"Welcome to Taft, I'm Klein." Klein greeted the six players, "I'm sure you've met Agil already."

The six members of the former 'Legend Braves' stood in shock as they looked at Agil, and slowly the former leader Orlando spoke.

"So you're completely aware of the things that we did on the second floor?"

"Well, all that Agil told me was that Nezha saved the raid group, and that's all that matters. In the end nobody died, so I have no reason to reject Nezha, or any of you." Klein replied cheerfully.

"But Klein-san, if you accept us into your guild, then there's a good chance that both the ALF and DDA will view you negatively." Nezha suddenly said.

"Well, it's not like those two guilds are giving us much or a chance anyways, besides." Klein's reply was cut short.

"Kirito-kun was the person that recommended you to Klein-san." A familiar voice spoke up from down the street, "Long time no see, Nezha-san, glad to see you doing well."

"Asuna-san!" Nezha exclaimed, as he and his group turned to the fencer beauty.

"It looks like Kirito-kun is full of surprises, I never knew he referred you to Klein-san." Asuna said, "He always said that you guys would recover and rejoin the front lines though."

"Thanks to you and Kirito-san, if it wasn't for you two I never would have had the chance to realize my dreams." Nezha suddenly became very emotional, as tears started flowing down his cheeks.

"Please accept our apologies, Asuna-san" Orlando bowed, "and we thank you all for giving us a second chance. We promise that we'll do our best from now on."

"The pleasure is ours as well, you came at a good time since we'll need all the help we can get from now onwards. Guess we'll thank Kirito when he gets back." Klein said.

"Where is Kirito-san by the way? He just messaged us to meet you at the teleport gate, but didn't say he was coming." Nezha asked.

"Well... that guy's on the lower levels at the moment, and he might not be joining us for a short while." Klein spoke lightly.

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:45]

Location: [8th Floor – The Giant Tree]

_This has got to be a bad joke!_

Kirito looked at the enemies that surrounded him, counting 5 [Dark Elves], and realized that the amount of mobs was beyond his ability to handle. He did not expect the ambush to occur just as he entered the corridor instead of at the end, and furthermore he had not expected the 5 mobs to possess a hiding skill that was beyond his ability to detect.

_If Silica was here Pina would have detected this trap... no use crying about it now... I'll brood over it once I survive._

Jumping at the mob that was blocking his escape route, Kirito launched his [Scatter Shot] with his left, and followed with a Sonic Leap. Both hits connect at the same time, causing the mob to stagger backwards.

As Kirito uses this opening to make a dash, he sees two blades coming at him from both sides. Quickly breaking into a roll, Kirito barely avoids the two blades, and jumps sideways to avoid the strike from the original mob that he knocked back.

Backing himself on a tree, Kirito quickly realized that he would have to at least eliminate one of the mobs before he would be able to even escape. He looked at the first mob he attacked, which was at 70% health, and decided to focus his attacks.

Stabbing his Knightsword on the ground, Kirito pulled out his throwing picks and activated his newest skill [Scatter Storm], launching throwing picks with both his hands. A flurry of 50 picks shots in a fan shape in front of Kirito, forcing the mobs to assume a defensive position.

Dashing forward as he picked up his sword, Kirito charged as his right flank using a [Horizontal Arc] directed towards both mobs. The two mobs quickly changed their stance, and met with Kirito's blade head on, sending both parties backwards.

Using the momentum, Kirito fired another [Scatter Shot], this time at the two mobs in the left. Then dashing at the center mob, Kirito activated his combination skill [Meteor Break] - Two slashes, a body slam, two more slashes, another ram, roundhouse slash.

Being the thing closest to a unique skill, Kirito unleashed the second variant of the skill, which was more about preserving agility while attacking. The main advantage of this variant was its low cooldown, allow Kirito to quickly maneuver away after completing the skill.

Dodging backwards after the combo, Kirito resumed his guard, glancing at his enemies. The centre mob had dropped down to the red, and the two mobs on the left were down 20%. He would have to be careful of the two on the right, as they were still at full health.

_Just a little more, and I'll be able to escape._

Charging once again, Kirito expected to use the same method and finish off the center mob. Unexpectedly, all of the opposing mobs suddenly charged at Kirito simultaneously, causing him to stop his rush.

_Impossible! A group formation?! _Kirito was shocked at the AI's new ability to attack as a group.

Kirito watched as the two mobs that had full health charge at him, and ducked forwards, away from the two blades that swung at his upper torso. At the same time, two more blades struck at him from the ground, forcing Kirito to block one blade with his sword and to dodge the second.

Having his balance upset, Kirito could do nothing but watch the last mob land a clean hit to his chest, leaving a searing red line on his armor, and a 50% critical hit on his HP.

_I have to get out of here, no time for escaping gracefully at this point. This had better work._

Charging at the mob that slashed him, Kirito dashed past the last mob as he quickly grabbed a potion with his left. As the bitter sweet lemon taste entered his mouth, Kirito felt another numb on his back - having taken another critical since he exposed his back to the mob.

_I won the wager, now I have to get out of here. I'll have time to worry about my wallet and my pride later. _

Kirito thought, looking at his HP bar that only had a few lines remaining. The potion's effect had boosted his HP just enough to keep him alive, and now combined with his [Battle Healing], he should be able to escape. On the other hand, his wallet took quite a hit since this potion was one of the best ones available so far, and cost Kirito a pretty penny.

Dashing at full speed, Kirito ignored the fact that he was actually running deeper into the forest, as right now his main priority was to leave his pursuers' aggro-range. Reaching the giant tree that towered from the floor to the sky, Kirito suddenly stopped and muttered in shock.

"No way..."

Having been brought up in a traditional home, and having seen the tree stump on the 9th floor, Kirito immediately realized that the tree did not spawn from the 8th floor either. That would mean that this tree is at least 300 meters tall, dwarfing any tree in the real world by a large margin.

Suddenly feeling a cold sensation, Kirito looked up, and saw a symbol around 5 meters up on the tree's trunk - it was the [Dark Ritual Symbol] that he was looking for. At that moment Kirito realized the nature of his quest, and drew both his blades.

_Well, here we go again... another solo boss fight._

Turning to face his pursuers that had finally caught up with him, Kirito prepared for the 'boss battle' that was about to occur.

**Author Notes:**

So Kirito's stuck in the lower levels, outnumbered, and outclassed... what should I do to get him out of this mess?

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 11 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 9436 (+? players)

**Characters:**

**Kirito 26**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1****st**** boss LA drop**

**Leafa 21**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 3H3S3D] 10/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 23 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**Silica 23**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 23**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 22**

**L12 [Felicia's Claws 7Q] 8/8**

**Klein 24**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 23**

**L20 [ Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 20**

**L20 [ Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[ Kiteshield]**

Keita - 19

Tetsuo - 18

Ducker - 18

Sasamaru - 18

Nezha - 19

Other Fuurinkazan 20-22

/Lynd (DDA) - 22

Other DDA 15-20

/Diabel - 21

/Thinker - 19

/Coper - 20

/Kibaou - 18

Other ALF 15-20

/Heathcliff - 22?

/Godfree -

/Aki - ? 19

\Mika - 13

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12


	53. Reunite & Restart

**Reunite and Restart**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Q&A (NEW!):

Just setting a new small section to reply to the kind people that gave comments for each chapter... previously I used IM's to reply, but seeing as many of the questions are actually really good, I'll post all the replies here from now on.

Re: Laeveteinn - about long-range In the web-novel "Rondo of Illusionary Swords", Nezha was given the hurling ring (I'll be calling it a chakram), and he proceded to save the boss raid party. I felt it was a little overpowered as well, so I'll try to address that issue in the next chapter(s).

Re: Raventus Dracoria - You're reading my mind aren't you? I'm planning to have Heathcliff appear next chapter... see how that goes. As for Kirito, he'll be receiving some help sooner (or later)

Everyone else, thanks for your continued support... NOW ONTO THE STORY!

Authors Notes 2: I've got the first chapter of the crossover fanfic ready, and I'm definitely going to blatantly rip one of the characters into this SAO AU. Please don't flame me too much :)

**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [13:15]

Location: [8th Floor – Cursed Giant Tree]

Cutting one of his elven pursuers into oblivion, Kirito downed his 5th potion, as the remaining mobs fell back to regroup their attack. The giant tree had provided a huge advantage for Kirito, as it eliminated the danger of being surrounded. Without the advantage of being attack in a group, Kirito was able to focus on each of his attackers, and was able to eliminate three of his five enemies.

_It's a good thing that the tree provided a wall for me, otherwise I would have a very hard time staying alive. Still, I've already downed five potions and still two of the elves are still standing._

Suddenly, the two remaining elves began to scream, and a cloud of darkness seeped from their eyes, ears and mouth. Kirito gripped his swords tightly as he realized that this was likely the darkness that controlled his pursuers.

The dark cloud grew in size, as it left the body of its hosts, the elves melting to a pile of meat then shattering away. As the dark cloud started to converge, an icon appeared on its head - [The Phantom Elf of Darkness] - Level 30.

Kirito looked at the field boss, and let out a small laugh. He took another potion and quickly drank it, despite being at 70% health - he'll need the continuous healing effect at this rate.

_Hopefully, I'm not as weak as I felt I was... otherwise this fight will be my last. _Kirito though as he charged in full speed.

Clashing his right blade with the Elf's, Kirito reached with his left blade and stabbed forward to land his first hit. His widened as he saw that the elf had blocked his sword, with a dark blade of his own. Jumping back, Kirito frowned as he prepared both blades in ready position.

_Great... a mob that uses dual blades... I was expecting this to happen eventually. Hopefully this will give me a chance to see what I can eventually learn... if I survive._

Kirito jumped sideways immediately as the Phantom Elf launched its first strike against him, watching the two shadow blades draw two circular arcs in the air. Kirito countered with a [Slant] with his right, which was blocked by the elf with its blades.

Rounding around the elf, Kirito examined the elf's appearance. The elf was completely shrouded by a dark aura, both its blades were around the length of a long sword, and were pitch black in color.

_If I'm not mistaken, the darkblade will likely be ineffective, while my knightsword should be extra effective. I should concentrate on luring with my darkblade, and striking with my knightsword _

Slashing with his darkblade, Kirito charged forwards to close the distance. As expected the elf blocked his hit with both its swords, and Kirito closed the distance and stabbed with his left. The sword barely grazed the mob, and white sparks erupted as the knightsword cut apart the darkness.

_I can do this... _Kirito thought to himself, as he continued fighting the mob.

Fifteen minutes later, he had damaged the mob to its last HP bar. Looking at his 90% HP bar, Kirito held his blades in front of his body to prepare for the eventual [Rage Mode] of the mob.

Suddenly the mob's dark blades began to glow crimson, and Kirito felt a strong chill down his back. Instinctively, he jumped back, as he watched the mob's expression. Underneath the dark aura, he saw the mob announce his attack.

"_Nova Burst."_

The Phantom Elf disappeared from Kirito's view, and appeared just several feet in front of him. Kirito barely had time to block the sideways swipe with his darkblade, and with a clang his darkblade was disarmed by an upper slash by the mob's second blade.

_What the...?!_

Gripping his knightsword with both hands, Kirito blocked the successive 4 sideways attacks, the last double-blade swipe making him lose balance. Kirito's eyes widened as he watched the mob slash both blades down at him.

_Impossible, that's already 6-hits, and still not done?_

Barely blocking the twin blade X-slash, Kirito is then knocked backwards into the air by the attack.

Breaking into a tumble position in mid-air, Kirito rolls away from the mob, gets up and picks up his disarmed weapon. He glances at his HP, and realizes that he barely avoided death.

_This is BAD! I'm going to die at this rate._

Quickly downing another potion, Kirito falls further back and keeps his distance with the Elf as his HP recovers. He observes the Elf's stature again, and realized that the way it held its blade was much more aggressive than before. Instead of holding both blade in front to prevent getting hit, the mob was holding both blades to the side, ready to strike.

_So it's getting ready for the final showdown as well. Guess I should try to take advantage of that._

Slowly circle-strafing the mob, Kirito waited as his potion's effect healed his HP. He had finally used up his best healing potions, and the next time he loses HP would be the critical point when he needed to choose between fleeing and fighting to the death.

_I'd better be careful, if I take another one of those combo's, I'm definitely dead._

Noting his health had recovered to the green range, Kirito charged forward again, this time slashing the mob with both swords. As the mob blocked the blades, Kirito emulated the mob's combo move, and spun around for an attack using both his blades.

The mob once again blocked, but this time was pushed back due to Kirito's increased strength from using both blades. Kirito did not miss this chance and charged in with an [Open Palm Strike], stunning the mob. Not missing a beat, Kirito's blades entered a frenzy, landing several slashes on the enemy, and finally sending the mob flying away with a [Cannon Fist].

Stabbing his [Darkblade Katana] into the ground, Kirito launches 2 scatter shots at the mob, chipping away at its HP, then drinks another potion to continue his healing effect. Seeing the mob's HP reach 50% of its last bar, Kirito grinned.

_Took long enough, but I think I can do it._

Grabbing his blade again, Kirito charged at the mob which had regained its posture. He dodged the mob's first slash, and parried the second as he got behind the mob and landed a slash on its back.

Suddenly, the elf let out a large roar, and the darkness in the mob expanded exponentially. Kirito instinctively jumped back, holding his blades in front to prevent any damage. The roar had barely subsided when the Elf suddenly burst forwards at Kirito again, ready to strike another killer combo.

Instinctively, Kirito jumped out of the way, and countered by another slash to the back. This time the mob turned around and blocked Kirito's attack, though its balance was thrown off by the attack.

Closing in on the mob, Kirito activated one of his higher-level combos, and Kirito's sword drew the '4' sign of the 3-hit attack - Salvage Fulcrum. Dropping the mob's HP into the final 25%, Kirito moved back and assumed a defensive stance.

_Odd, this is almost too easy... the mob didn't counterattack as much as it did. In any case, I should finish this before any unexpected situations occur._

Charging in after throwing another round of throwing picks, Kirito closed in with a [Sonic Leap], then parried the mob's sword with a horizontal. Exploiting the Elf's delay, Kirito performed another [Salvage Fulcrum], intending to finish off the mob. Sparks flew into the air, and Kirito gasped.

_NO! It was waiting for this moment!_

Having blocked Kirito's attack, the Elf grinned evilly as Kirito was frozen from his post-attack delay. The Elf's blades began to light up, as Kirito realized that the mob was going to use the same attack as earlier, but this time he would be unable to block the hits.

_I'm sorry... please fight on! _Kirito silently pleaded to his allies

Suddenly, the sound of air being split was heard, and a green flash arched through the sky and hit the mob. Kirito glanced over to see a familiar figure, or NPC character.

"What are you waiting for? Finish the monster off!" Kizmel shouted from behind her ebony bow, having just launched a shot into the Elf's eye.

Kirito recovered from the delay, and charged at the Phantom Elf, slashed it several time, and activated his longest combo Meteor Break. This time it was the finishing variant, as there was no need to hold back.

As the last hit of the 7-hit combo sends the Phantom Elf into the air, Kirito quickly follows through as he jumps into the air. Slashing the Elf multiple times in mid-air, Kirito lands on the floor and completes his attack by raising his sword and stabbing the mob into the ground.

Watching the Phantom Elf finally shatter into polygons, Kirito turned to the Elven warrior that had helped the players reach the 10th floor.

"Kizmel-san, what are you doing here?" Kirito asked, noticing the "!" mark on the elf's head.

"Honestly, I should be the one asking that question." Kizmel responded to a surprised Kirito, who didn't expect her to reply in such an organic fashion.

"No matter, it seems that you've somehow gotten yourself involved in the crisis of our lands." Kizmel put away her bow, and walked towards Kiritio. "Still, I did not expect you to fight the cursed Elf by yourself. Our scouting party was annihilated earlier by this same enemy, and honestly I think it was foolish for you to try attacking it on your own.

"Well, things happened..." Kirito responded.

"But before that..." Kizmel aimed her bow and aimed it at the [Dark Ritual Symbol], her arrow glowed in a violet light, as the arrow shot from the bow and his the symbol. A vortex effect covered the symbol, and the next moment the symbol shattered. Putting away her bow, Kizmel turned to Kirito and began to speak.

"I'm sure you're well aware of the state of the different Elven states, and we're only one step away from total war. Furthermore, there seems to be a bandit group that's trafficking slaves between cities, with rumors saying that they serve a darker power that plans to take over. Anyhow, if you wish I can bring you to camp and update you on our crisis."

Kirito nodded as he listened to Kizmel, and responded with a "Yes" at the end.

"I thank you in advance for your assistance." Kizmel replied, and then took something and tossed it to Kirito. "Catch!"

Kirito caught the item, and saw that it was an extremely rare item - a healing crystal. During the beta test, crystals were considered the most expensive of consumables, as they provided an instant effect. In the magic-less world (or what was magic-less until now), crystals were the only magic-items that could be commanded by players.

_Well, apparently our 'system menu' is also magic according to the elves, but in terms of magic items, I'm surprised that I have access to healing crystals so early. Kayaba mentioned in the interview that the crystals would not appear until much later. Come to think of it, I should keep an eye for teleport crystals, they should be available soon._

_Still, I did not expect to meet Kizmel again, I'm surprised that SAO has such a large quest, it's rare for a quest to cross levels to begin with. Anyways, I guess I'll see where this leads to. Wish the others were here though, I wouldn't mind someone to give me an opinion._

Following Kizmel's footsteps, Kirito walked back into the forest.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [14:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Taft]

"Well, due to circumstances, our group had gotten a little bigger." Klein explained, as she introduced the new members of his guild.

"At this rate, I should just retire from fighting - I should be able to make a living just making weapons for you guys." Lisbeth joked.

"No, we still need Lisbeth-san to help us on the front lines as well." Silica countered, "Besides, it's better to fight together against the monsters as well."

"Well, as they say, the more the merrier. So how about we start?" Klein said, as he was about to walk to the leveling area.

"Wait!" Leafa spoke suddenly, "If we all go together, the game system will increase the difficulty of the monster's behavior algorithm. That eventually makes it harder for us to level, so it's not the best way."

Everyone looked at Leafa in amazement, and Leafa stopped as she noticed everyone's gaze.

"Did I say something weird?" Leafa asked, realizing that she may have said something that she shouldn't have

"Wow! Leafa-san's amazing! No wonder you're so strong. I wish I could be like you when I grow up." Silica exclaimed, making Leafa stutter in embarrassment.

"No, I'm not that strong, it's just that I read a few online manuals and guides that were posted before starting the game."

"Still, it's pretty amazing how well you understand the game. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were Kirito in cosplay." Klein's joke was interrupted by Asuna's deliberate cough.

"In this case, we'll split our groups up once we reach the field. Klein-san, I suppose you'll be busy working with your new members. Please treat them well and don't do anything stupid." Asuna commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" Klein stood straight in attention as he answered, causing the others to laugh.

"In the meantime, Keita-san, you don't mind if we join the Black Cats to level right?"

"No, not at all, we'd be honored." Keita replied respectfully, as Ducker elbowed his friend and whispered.

"So you're joining the Asuna fanclub now?" Ducker's question was quickly muffled as Keita grabbed him in a headlock.

"Well, since we're ready, let's head out." Asuna smiled at the scene, though somewhere in her mind she felt awkward, it seemed that something was missing, someone. Tossing those thoughts aside, she and Leafa lead the group out of town.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aincrad Standard Time: [16:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Abandoned Ruins]

Two hour later, the two groups regrouped at the safe area, they were discussing enthusiastically as they had discovered a field boss.

"So, everyone feels that we should try to defeat the field boss?" Asuna asked, to the nodding and approval of the rest of the group.

"This time we've got 22 people against the boss, so we can split into two groups of six and two of five. We'll arrange two lines, and run a pot rotation between the lines as well as amongst ourselves." Asuna started to formulate her battle plan.

"Klein's group and Nezha-san's group will form one rotation, it'll be similar to the floor boss rotations. We'll be referring to your groups as 'Bandit' and 'Brave', is that OK?"

"Why must we be the 'bandits'?!" Klein protested to everyone's laughter.

"Keita-san, I'd like to have Sachi-chan join our group, while Agil-san joins your group, that way we'll have a shield-bearer. Is that OK with you three?"

"No problem"

"Affirmative"

"Yes, I'll be in your care."

"Perfect. Now we will describe the details of the battle. According to our observations and Leafa-chan's information, the field boss is called "Grotto the Golem", and focuses on high STR and DEF. We will need to maintain a solid defense line as we slowly chip away at its 4 HP bars. From our limited encounters, the main attack pattern seems to be several attacks with its arms, followed from an occasional [Rock Throw]."

Asuna looked around, and seeing that nobody was lost, continued.

"It's normal attacks have a relatively short delay, however its back is completely exposed during the attack and afterwards, we can utilize ranged attacks to hit it while it attacks normally."

"In the event that it uses its [Rock Throw], it will be stuck in delay for around three seconds. At this time, we need to have our heavy hitters deal a large amount of damage to it, since the mob likely has a high HP count. Furthermore, according to Leafa, it's possible that the boss will perform the skill [Stone Lariat] - a spinning aoe skill that we should avoid."

"Now ideally, each of our groups will have two forward defenders and two attackers, so once we're done we can decide amongst ourselves. Remember that if anyone enters the yellow range, fall back immediately. Anyone that enters the red zone should be protected while they fall back and restore their HP, we're just fighting a field boss so we can't take unnecessary risks. Now let's get ready for some good drops." Asuna concluded.

_Well, I suppose that's done. I definitely not giving one of those 'inspirational speeches'_

Fifteen minutes later, everyone had their healing items prepared, their roles defined, and all four groups were ready to go.

"Well, let's go and make that guy regret not joining us for this raid." Asuna declared, as she led the group towards the location of the field boss.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

If the 11th floor could be considered a ruinscape with small patches of civilization, the field boss area would be the ruins of what might once have been a great civilization. Remains of large structures littered the 'streets' leading down to a central area, and broken statues lined the pathways.

Slowly descending down the street, Asuna and the group entered the central area, a circular arena with a large water fountain in the middle, a large golem statue standing in the center podium. As the group entered the arena, the golem let out a roar and started to move.

Jumping down from the podium, the 'statue' lifted up the podium it was standing on, and the podium became a large mace-like object. The group quickly assumed their formation, as Asuna gave the command.

"Bandit forwards, move up and prepare to block; Bandit attackers, prepare to attack. Braves, long range." Asuna yelled, then turning to the Black Cats, "Forward Cats, move up and attack, make sure you keep the defense strong. Everyone else, follow me!"

Drawing her beloved [Gale Fleuret], Asuna charged towards the field boss, with the rest of the girls following her lead. Seeing their attack, [Grotto the Golem] let out a loud roar, signifying the beginning of the battle.

**Author End Notes:**

Kirito's been reunited with a few old allies, but will they be strong enough to finish the quest?

On the other hand, the 'group' has gotten quite large, will they become the third power in the struggle to become Aincrad's largest clearing juggernaut?

Oh by the way: Where's Aki? Who's the hooded figure? Where the heck is Heathcliff?

(a.k.a When am I going to start tying loose ends instead of creating more fray strands?)

Stay tuned till next chapter.

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 11 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 9436 (+? players)

**Characters: **

_Kirito's group: 23 + himself:_

**Kirito 27**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1****st**** boss LA drop**

**Leafa 22**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 3H3S3D] 10/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 24 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**[Boots of the Hornet]**

**Silica 24**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 23**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 22**

**L12 [Felicia's Claws 7Q] 8/8**

**Klein 24**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 24**

**L20 [ Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 21**

**L20 [ Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[ Kiteshield]**

Keita - 20

Tetsuo - 18

Ducker - 18

Sasamaru - 18

Nezha - 19

Other Legend Brave 15-21

Other Fuurinkazan 20-23

/Lynd (DDA) - 22

Other DDA 15-20

/Diabel - 21

/Thinker - 19

/Coper - 20

/Kibaou - 18

Other ALF 15-20

/Heathcliff - 22?

/Godfree -

/Aki - ? 19

\Mika - 13

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12


	54. Old & New Acquaintances

**Old & New Acquaintances **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

Q&A (NEW!):

Just setting a new small section to reply to the kind people that gave comments for each chapter... previously I used IM's to reply, but seeing as many of the questions are actually really good, I'll post all the replies here from now on.

zinmaster24:Kizmel and the NPC's acting more organic is definitely part of the plot in 'Concerto of Black & White'... I just took liberties as the web-novel hasn't finished.

Laeveteinn: Alicization is IMHO the best arc of the entire series. It brings the entire series full-circle and brings closure to most of the plot elements. I'm definitely hoping that there will be another 2 series for the anime... and hopefully they will not brutalize it.

guy: Nope, Kirito can't summon anything.

Raventus Dracoria: You brought up a good point.

**NOTICE! LOOKING FOR OC's willing to join this AU! Please submit your character name, preferred weapon, stat emphasis (e.g. STR, AGI, etc), level range (i.e. Clearer, high group, main group, low level.), PKer status, and any supplementary information.**

**Please note that all characters submitted may possibly be killed off or faded into oblivion, depending on plot necessities. Oh... and PLEASE... no more candidates for Kirito's harem, he's got took many to be able to handle already... LOL...**

Everyone else, thanks for your continued support... NOW ONTO THE STORY!

**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [16:30]

Location: [11th Floor – Abandoned Ruins]

Outside the central arena of the ruined city, two men dressed in white and red stood watching the field boss battle in the arena.

"Seeing those youngsters fight so valiantly is getting my blood to boil. Let's go help them out!" The man with orange curly hair spoke with excessive vigor, as if he had too much sugar in his regular diet.

The other man calmly shook his head, "Patience Godfree, let us observe for a while. After all, it is not proper etiquette to suddenly barge into the fight of others. Besides, this group is not like the others we have met, it is likely that we may end up getting in their way."

Ignoring the shocked expression of his partner, the silver-haired man smiled as he witnessed the 20-man party take on the field boss.

_I'm sure they'll be able to defeat the Golem, but will they be able to evade its last attack? I hope they completed the quest which gave them information about this boss, but just in case I'll stay and watch over them._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx**

**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [16:30]

Location: [8th Floor – Elven Encampment]

Kirito looked around, and realized that this map was not an instance dungeon. Looking around, he noticed that the armored guards that saluted Kizmel had upgraded equipment, and that they looked even tougher than they were several floors back.

"I guess it's the mandatory upgrade in preparation for war." Kirito mumbled.

"You are correct, unfortunately our peace talks have broken down, and as a result we are on the verge of total war." Kizmel's reply startled Kirito, he did not expect her to respond to even his mumblings.

"So what happened to the alliance between the wood elves? I thought and Vladm were trying to convince the leaders to stop the war." Kirito asked, as he followed Kizmel towards the main tent.

"The alliance has been temporarily suspended, as both kingdoms realized that our resources were too limited. Our lands have started to die at an accelerated pace, and instead of finding the cause of the problem, each Elven kingdom has prioritized the conquering of other kingdoms to ensure survival." Kizmel sighed as she looked down.

"It is almost painful to see us Elves descend to these acts of pillaging and destruction, it's almost as if we have regressed to the level of humans. Oh! Please pardon my inappropriate words, I did not mean to suggest that human were savages."

"No offense taken." Kirito replied, which was true as he was more surprised than insulted by Kizmel's outburst.

"I apologize again for my rudeness, please come this way." Kizmel walked Kirito into the tent, where Kirito expected to talk to the leader of the camp.

Looking around, the tent was very simply decorated, with very little furnishing apart from a rack that held two decorative blades. Kizmel walked to the end of the tent, and sat in the spot that the leader would normally be positioned at.

_Oh! Why didn't I think of that? _Kirito slapped his head as he realized that Kizmel had become the leader of the camp.

"I suppose you're surprised at my promotion, but it's no problem I'm sure you're no stranger to unexpected situations." Kizmel let out a laugh, "Now onto more serious matters, please sit down."

Kirito obeyed and sat down on the mat, as Kizmel sat opposite to him.

"I have no idea whether you were just in the area, or whether this is your destiny... but I'm sure you've seen the giant tree, and the Dark Ritual Symbol that was destroyed. That tree is what we knew as the [Gigas Vitalus], the source of all of vitality of our lands. Legend has it that it was spawned from the seeds of the Gigas Cedar from the Underworld, travelling through the dimensions into our world." Kizmel began to narrate the lore of the origins of the giant tree that spanned multiple floors.

"Kirito-san, do you know how tall the Gigas Vitalus is?" Kizmel asked

"So far I've only seen the top of the tree, where it shriveled up, but according to what I've seen on this floor, the tree is at least 200m tall." Kirito responded.

"I see, so you've seen the top of tree, and how it has shriveled to a single thorn. Now what if I told you that the tree we know call the [Gigas Vitalus] actually has its roots on the 3rd floor, being the twin of the [Great Sequoia]" Kizmel stopped as she noticed Kirito's shocked expression.

"You're saying... that this tree extends from the 3rd floor of Aincrad?! All the way up to the 9th?! That's 700m tall!" Kirito's voice squeaked out his reply.

"Yes, and that's why we call it the legend that brings life to our lands, but unfortunately the tree had been contaminated by an equally powerful and evil force. A group of our historians believe the powers of darkness have been harnessed by a group of corrupted elves, and their powers have grown to the point where they are able to affect the great tree itself."

"I suppose the royals in the palace are split between what to do with the issue, so you have been selected to deal with this unknown threat alone while the main force prepares for war?" Kirito regained his composure and deduced the circumstances leading to Kizmel's appearance here - basically to assist him and lead him to the next part of the quest.

"If I am not mistaken, the Dark Ritual Symbol that you allowed me to destroy will destroy the dark influence on this floor, so that the tree's vitality can pass through this floor. However, only after the tree is purged of darkness, will our lands truly be saved." Kizmel stated.

"Well, I'm planning to explore these floors sooner or later, so I guess you won't mind if I help out?" Kirito watched as the "!" mark disappear on Kizmel's head.

"I would be honored to have your assistance. However, the path ahead will be difficult, are you sure you want to do this?" Kizmel asked as a "?" mark appeared on her head.

"I understand the dangers, and I will help you." Kirito affirmed.

"Very well, if you wish to start venturing to the lower levels, use this crystal and it will lead you to me." Kizmel handed Kirito a corridor crystal with a green gem embedded inside.

"Should we start now?" Kirito ask, to which Kizmel shook her head.

"Currently, both you and I are too weak to attempt to remove the [Dark Seal] on the lower floors. Furthermore, there are other issues that should be dealt with first."

_I guess there's a level prerequisite for the next section, I guess I'll try to find a way back so I can level a bit more then. _Kirito thought as he realized he had reached the limit for this quest.

"Kizmel-san, do you happen to know about the dragon that guards the passage between this floor and the next?" Kirito changed the subject as he realized that he would likely need to return to the higher floors.

"In fact I do, our troops have tried for several years to defeat [The Great Blue Dragon] in order to facilitate a logistics route to the desert floor above, but unfortunately the dragon is extremely vicious and does not die easily. In our various attempts to break through, we have discovered that the dragon's weakness is right under its mouth, where the skin is much weaker than other parts of its body."

Kirito nodded as Kizmel continued.

"However, due to the speed of the dragon, none of our warriors are able to damage the dragon's weakness. We have also tried our spell-craft, and have confirmed that lightning attacks are extremely effective. However, due to our lost knowledge, the spells that we are able to cast will not be effective against the dragon." Kizmel took a drink from her cup as she finished describing the dragon's weaknesses.

"So the main issue is firepower..." Kirito uttered, and suddenly a thought came across his mind. Going through his menu, Kirito materialized the [Orb of Lightning] and put it onto the table.

"This is?!" Kizmel gasped in surprise as she got up abruptly, "where did you get this?"

"It was given to me by an elder-wood-elf on top of the great sequoia on the third floor." Kirito attempted to give Kizmel the orb, but she pulled her hands away.

"We elves are not permitted to contact the power of the orbs, as legend has it that contact may contaminate our very soul. Our historical records have shown that those who came in contact with the orbs either lost their minds, lost their affinity of magic, or simply died." Kizmel explained. "The elder-wood-elf likely used his powers to seal off the orb, but even an elf as power as such did not contact the orb directly."

"So I suppose none of the elves will be able to activate this orb, I was told that I must find the one that can harness its powers, but now I'm stuck on this floor." Kirito complained.

_Maybe it was a mistake in coming down here without the rest of the group. Nothing seems to be going the way it's supposed to, and what's worse is that there's nobody I can talk to for help._

"There's no need to worry about finding the owner for the orb right now, as it stands right now the orb is useless even for its destined owner. First you'll have to fully release the power that lies latent in the orb." Kizmel suddenly said.

"Oh, I didn't even know about that. Come to think of it, how do you know all this information?" Kirito asked.

"Well..." Kizmel hesitated in her reply, and Kirito noticed the sadness in her eyes.

"Was it Tilnel-san?" Kirito asked carefully, remembering that Kizmel was greatly affect by the death of her twin sister - a front-lines healer whose life was taken by the [WoodElf Falconer] back in the third floor.

"Yes... I figured that you'd realize. Although my sister's duty was to act as a frontline healer, her original intent was actually to become a scholar and research the realm of ancient magic. If she had not perished during the battle, perhaps she would have had a chance to retire from the front lines to research the ancient orbs." Kizmel spoke as she reminisced about her sister.

"She used to tell me that the orbs are paired to their destined owners, and that dormant orbs will become active once they are close to their destined owner. However, orbs may also be attached to large organic items and beasts which have high magic potential. That is why over the years most of the orbs are now guarded by a guardian best, which has formed a synergistic relationship with the orbs." Kizmel continued to speak as Kirito scratched his head.

"So what does this have to do with this orb?" Kirito asked.

"Since the [Orb of Lightning] was actually sealed, it had lost all its original powers. In order for it to recover its power, it must be attached to a weapon and then used. The monsters that the weapon strikes will slowly power the sword, and eventually the orb will return to its full power. Unfortunately, until you increase the magic in the orb, it will not even recognize its destined owner."

"In other words, I need to use this orb inside a sword... well that's easier said than done." Kirito materialized his spare [ Longsword 4S1D], and attached the orb onto the sword. He then stood up and headed for the exit.

"Where are you going?" Kizmel asked in surprise.

"I'm heading to the lower floor of course, might as well be closer to the seal that we need to destroy." Kirito answered in a matter-of-fact tone. Kizmel did not respond, and Kirito thought her AI algorithm could not follow his answer.

"I give up, there's no stopping you is there... very well, if you need any help please come back to the camp." Kizmel suddenly said, this time it was Kirito's turn to be surprised.

"Uh... will do..." Kirito muttered, as he slowly walked out of the camp.

_Well, back to exploring, I wonder how the others are doing?_

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [16:30]

Location: [11th Floor – Abandoned Ruins]

Thirty minutes since assaulting [Grotto the Golem], the field boss' health was finally down two bars of four. Everything was going to plan, even if the progress was slow.

"Braves, fall back, the boss is about to perform the Lariat. All forwards, prepare to block the attack. Bandits, get around and prepare to counter attack! Nezha, Silica-chan, try aiming for the neck this time to see if we can critical the mob to cancel the attack!" Asuna yelled the orders, whilst quickly jumping back from her attack spree.

The Golem's lifted its arms, and spun around performing its Stone Lariat, the resulting shockwaves were blocked by the forwards. Behind Sachi's shield, Asuna watched Nezha's chakram and Silica's throwing picks bounce off the Golem's neck, dealing minimal damage.

_So the neck doesn't do anything either. Why is this mob so resilient to attacks?! _Asuna mentally complained as the mob's attack ended.

"Everyone attack! We've got 3 seconds!" Asuna charged in as the group readied their attacks. Exploiting the 3 second post-attack delay, Asuna charges in and lands several [Linear] attacks on the field boss, and finishes with a downward thrust [Oblique], sending her gliding in the air backwards from the mob.

Glancing to both sides, she confirmed that all the remaining party members were retreating as the 3 seconds were almost up.

"Ugh!" Suddenly one of the Black Cat members - Ducker, falls on the ground, having tripped as he retreated.

"WATCH OUT!" Asuna bolted towards the player, but was going to be too late to stop him from being smashed by the Golem's arms, the heavy hit [Stone Smash]. Instinctively Asuna closed her eyes, not wanting to see the results.

Sparks flew in all directions, and Asuna opened her eyes to see Leafa blocking the punch with her blade. Leafa's HP had dropped 20% from blocking the hit, but she managed to stop the attack in time.

Pushing the golem's arm away, Leafa charged in and executed a V-strike followed by a heavy stab - the 3-hit combo [Sharp Nail]

"Move back now!" Leafa commanded, as Ducker got to his feet and scrambled away, the blonde girl then swung around in a circle and slashed through the air sideways. The resulting [Serration Wave] causing a delay to the Golem's attack as she moved back.

"Sachi-san, cover for Leafa!" Asuna quick jumped in front of Leafa as and Sachi covered as the group moved a safe distance from the mob. In the meantime, Klein's bandits and Nezha's braves continued the attack.

"Ducker, you alright?" Keita worriedly rushed to his guildmate, asking for his condition.

"Slightly shaken up, but I'll be fine." Ducker said weakly. Looking possible death straight in the eye was no easy task, and it took a lot out of the young man.

"Keita-san, have him fall back a safe distance and recover, he's not in a condition to fight the boss." Asuna said, while looking at the field boss. "Everybody else, let's get back in and finish this quickly."

"I'll stay with Ducker." Keita suggested, to the disapproval of Asuna.

"No. We need as many people to fight as possible right now. Ducker should be safe as long as he stays far enough away, especially since he's at full health."

Looking at Asuna's serious expression, Keita nodded silently, then rejoined the rest of the Black Cats.

Meanwhile, Klein's bandit group were preventing the golem from moving forward, while the six brave's members continued their attack.

"Move back, the enemy is about to throw rocks!" Klein shouted, as the bandits cleared from the front.

"Let me finish my shot!" Nezha charged both his chakrams, throwing the weapon at the field boss. Jumping back after his attack, his eyes met with the gleaming red orbs of the golem.

Suddenly, instead of throwing the rock, the Golem charged forwards towards Nezha, who was completely unarmed. Swinging both arms, the golem pounded his arms to the stout man who was ducking down covering his head.

Luckily, the golem's attack was blocked by Asuna's group who had returned to the front.

"Nezha-san, make sure you don't attack unless you can guarantee a critical. You may be a long range fighter, but all it means is that you're more vulnerable if the enemy manages to close in." Asuna scolded the man.

"I'm sorry..." Nezha apologized as he caught the chakrams that had returned to him.

"No use brooding over it, let's finish this monster first." Klein's voice brought the group back into focus, and they resumed their attack on the field boss.

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"Watch out! It's the golem's new attack [Stone Rain]!" Leafa shouted, jumping back as the Golem's last HP bar was flashing in the red.

The attacking group once again moved backwards, and looked upwards as the golem's thrown rocks exploded in the mid-air, raining a storm of rocks at the players.

"Charge in 3...2...1... GO!" Asuna ordered the attack as she led the attacking group to commence charging at the golem, aiming to exploit the delay after the attack wore off.

Dodging the hail of rocks falling from the sky, Asuna closed the distance between the golem and herself. The hail of rocks slowly chipped at her HP, but it was a risk she was willing to take.

As the hail of rocks stopped, Asuna had reached the golem, and executed another flurry of [Linear] attacks. Beside her, Leafa, Lisbeth and Agil slammed their weapons into the mob, followed by the attacks of the bandit and brave groups.

As the golem swung its arms around, the attack was blocked by the Tetsuo and Sachi, allowing the second round to begin as the fowards fell back.

"Pina, heal them!" Silica commanded her pet dragon, which seemed to understand her wishes and sent its [Heal] to the players in the form of a refreshing vapor. The fowards nodded in appreciation, and returned forward to defend against the next attack.

"Just a bit more! Let's finish this mob off!" Asuna's shout was echoed by all the members as they concentrated their attacks on the mob, eliminating the last of its HP.

As Leafa was attacking, she suddenly noticed the golem's eyes turn purple, and suddenly shivers were felt down her spine.

_I remember reading that there are mobs on the upper levels that have eyes that turn purple... that's when they use the deadly attack [Self-destruct]!_

"EVERYONE MOVE BACK!" Leafa yelled at the top of lungs, as the last HP of the field boss disappeared.

As the mob started glowing, everyone fell back quickly. Asuna however, being the one to deal the last attack on the mob, fell slightly behind the others. Knowing that she would not be able to run away fast enough, she kneeled down and put her rapier sideways to shield the damage.

"BOOM!" Grotto the Golem exploded into a explosion of rocks, and hit the various players. While blocking the players kept an eye on their HP, and most would end up OK, apart from one.

As Asuna looked at her HP, she quickly realized that the explosion would end up killing her. Countless thoughts coursed through her mind at the speed of light, as she recalled the things that she still had to do. The last thought that remained was the silhouette of a young boy clad in black, his two swords sheathed behind his back.

_Kirito-kun... I'm sorry..._

Asuna's thoughts were cut short as a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, shielding the fatal damage with a kite-shield. Asuna glanced at her HP, a few lines from zero remaining, and she quickly drank a potion, restoring her health.

After several seconds, a cheer erupted in the group, starting from the Black Cats. They had successfully defeated the field boss of the 11th floor, and it looked as if the labyrinth was within reach. Asuna got up from the floor as the man who saved her turned around.

Dressed in a white armor laid with red stripes, the man smiled as faced Asuna. She felt a commanding aura emanating from the man, proclaiming that he was one of the strong. Smiling in return, Asuna bowed to the man. "My name is Asuna. Thank you for saving my life."

"Don't worry about it. Each player's life is important, and I'm glad to have been able to help." The man replied politely.

The silver-haired man stood proudly in front of the group of more than twenty players, his white armor shining under the sun. In a majestic voice, he announced his identity.

"My name is Heathcliff, and I am the leader of the guild [Knights of the Blood]."

[Author's Note: Currently Heathcliff still wears white armor with red stripes, later on he will inverse the color scheme.]

**Author End Notes:**

Well, Kirito's not going anywhere but down at this rate... I wonder what will he find? Will he be in time for the boss battle for the 11th floor?

On the other side, Heathcliff has made his appearance. (Though 1 floor late... since the boss battle of the 10th floor didn't occur.) How will the appearance of the strongest player affect the course of the game?

Still no sign of Aki... but forget him for a while... darker forces are approaching... lol

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 11 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 9431 (+? players)

**Characters: **

_Kirito's group: 23 + himself:_

**Kirito 27**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1****st**** boss LA drop**

**Leafa 22**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 3H3S3D] 10/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 24 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**[Boots of the Hornet]**

**Silica 24**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 23**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 22**

**L12 [Felicia's Claws 7Q] 8/8**

**Klein 24**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 24**

**L20 [ Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 21**

**L20 [ Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[ Kiteshield]**

Keita - 20

Tetsuo - 18

Ducker - 18

Sasamaru - 18

Nezha - 19

Other Legend Brave 15-21

Other Fuurinkazan 20-23

/Lynd (DDA) - 22

Other DDA 15-20

/Diabel - 21

/Thinker - 19

/Coper - 20

/Kibaou - 18

Other ALF 15-20

/Heathcliff - 25

/Godfree - 22

/Aki - ? 19

\Mika - 13

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12


	55. Friends and Foes

**Friends and Foes**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

**Q&A: **

NightAngel0Ex: Hopefully I'll have Kirito come back to the front lines soon... describing his solo activities is almost as exciting as watching paint dry... (well.. not really... but still very monotonous, and very tiring on my part - trying to keep myself from falling asleep.) As for the corridor crystals... there's one where he can only use it to teleport to Kizmel, and I'm thinking of having him waste the other one somehow... guess I'll figure it out later... maybe I'll just have him use it to get back to the front lines.

**NOTICE! LOOKING FOR OC's willing to join this AU! Please submit your character name (real and alias), age, preferred weapon, stat emphasis in % (e.g. STR, AGI, etc), level range (i.e. Clearer, high group, main group, low level.), PKer status, and any supplementary information. (Preference given to STR class, as well as 'support' users. Villains are almost guaranteed in, but also guaranteed to die eventually.)**

**LOL... in the spirit of the "SAO Infinity Moment" PSP release coming soon...anyone want to submit a 'bow' user? Make sure you include a real weapon as well.. This IS Sword Art Online after all...**

**(Note, bow users will have a limited skill range of 20M. Crossbow limit of 5 shots per salvo, no homing arrows. Bow = Extended version of throwing weapons)**

**Please note that all characters submitted may possibly be killed off or faded into oblivion, depending on plot necessities. Oh... and PLEASE... no more candidates for Kirito's harem, he's got took many to be able to handle already... j/k LOL...**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Those of your that have submitted OC's please also refer to Ch.2 for the initial settings of your character, PM or comment to request changes. The background info that you submitted will remain in its original form in Ch.3. Thanks again**

**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [17:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Abandoned Ruins]

"My name is Heathcliff, and I am the leader of the guild [Knights of the Blood]."

The silver-haired man announced with confidence, and somehow captivated everyone's attention.

"My companion Godfree and I just formed our guild recently, with the intention to eventually set the all the players in Aincrad free from this game. We were exploring the latest floor when we heard the sound of fighting, and ended up here."

Heathcliff explained his arrival before the others had a chance to ask, as he continued.

"Since we are a new guild, we were hoping to join up with other groups for the time being, in order to meet other people as well as help each other survive this death game. Would you mind if the two of us joined up with your group for the time being?"

Asuna, who had recovered from her previous shock, looked at the man who towered in front of her. She was unable to read any emotion from the man, who seemed to be giving a preplanned speech. Nonetheless, she had no reason to deny of the simple request of the man, who saved her life several minutes ago.

"Just to clarify, we're not exactly a clearing guild, but just a group of people and guilds that happen to fight together on the front lines. In that sense we're similar to you, so there's no reason to refuse your joining us." Asuna politely accepted Heathcliff's request.

"Thank you for your generosity, I look forward to getting to know you all." Heathcliff smiled as he replied.

"Well, welcome to the club, Heathcliff." Klein approached the man as he greeted him, "You were pretty cool back there, mind sharing some pointers with us? Oh, I'm Klein by the way, nice to meet you!"

Heathcliff's smile faded slightly, as he shook the overeager leader's hand. "Well, it wasn't a special skill or anything, just that I knew that the golem would self-destruct so I had a head start on everyone."

"How did you know that?" Leafa suddenly asked, "Nobody's fought this golem before, and none of the mobs have this ability."

_Not until the 13th level at least_... Leafa's thought

"Godfree-kun here stumbled across an NPC outside of the ruins this morning, and told us of the self-destructing golems. We haven't encountered any in the ones we fought, but from the NPC's description only the powerful golems had the ability. Just then I saw something wrong with the golem's pre-death sequence, at that time it clicked and I rushed out before I knew it." Heathcliff's answer was flawless in his reasoning, and neither Leafa or Asuna could find fault in his words, despite being suspicious of his claims.

"In any case, it's good to have more players that are willing to put their life at stake for the greater good." Agil joined into the conversation. "Now the question is where do we go from here? From what it looks like, the road ahead will lead to the labyrinth tower, we can press on and start exploring the labyrinth of this floor, or we can head back to town for resupplying."

"Uh, I think our group will head back for now. I'd like to give Ducker some rest since he's a little shaken up. Sorry for holding you guys back" Keita was the first to give his opinion, apologizing for holding the group back.

"Naturally it is important to value the wellbeing of your allies, you have nothing to be sorry for." Heathcliff responded to Keita's apology instantly, before anyone else had thought of something to say. Keita looked at Heathcliff respectfully and bowed his head.

"Well, it doesn't hurt regrouping for dinner either, why don't we eat first and figure out the rest afterwards." Klein suggested, and the other players nodded their heads.

"I think I'm going to head into the labyrinth and explore a bit first." Leafa suddenly spoke up, "I'm not too hungry yet, besides I really want to see what's inside."

"I was planning on that as well, since we defeated the field boss, so we might as well check out the labyrinth too." Asuna agreed to Leafa's suggestion

"I'll go with Leafa-san also" Silica joined in.

"Guess I'll be joining as well." Lisbeth sighed.

"In that case, would you mind if Godfree and I tagged along? We were hoping to enter the labyrinth as well, and it would help us greatly if we had more people to explore with." Heathcliff expressed his intent to join the exploring group, which was met with little resistance.

"Very well, we will be in your care then." Asuna nodded in acknowledgement, then turned to the group heading back.

"So I suppose we'll meet at the tavern in Taft? Message us around 20:00 if any plans have been changed OK?"

"No problem, but don't have too much fun!" Klein waved as his group began heading back.

Turning to the remaining five players - Leafa, Lisbeth, Silica, Heathcliff and Godfree, Asuna opened her menu and added the five players to her party. She nodded to Heathcliff and Godfree, and they began to lead the party down the street into the tower dungeon that linked the floors together.

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [17:30]

Location: [8th Floor – Outside Frisben]

"Just a little more… done!" Kirito shouted as he struck down his 200th [Mischievous gnome]. He had cleared the entire field several times already, being one of his favorite leveling spots in the beta test. The spawn rate was high in this field, and the general difficulty of the mobs was acceptable.

"Must say this is a breeze after all the previous fights…" Kirito spoke to himself as he walked out to the safe area and sheathed his blades. He didn't have much hope for these mobs in terms of getting experience, but after a day of fighting for his life it was a good change of pace.

_If all goes to plan, I should be able to reach the level 28 after another 500 more. That will at least put me in a decent position to challenge the next level… hopefully. _Kirito recalled the difficulty of the previous floor boss, and hoped that the boss for the 7th floor was at least not as difficult.

Opening his item menu, Kirito materialized his 'default food' – the 1 col black bread, he sat down and put the bread on his lap. Materializing another pot, he used the pot on the bread, and instantly the black bread became a savory [Fruity Jam Bagel]. Eating was one of the few events in SAO that Kirito truly enjoyed, and he often went at lengths to find additives for his otherwise almost-inedible [Black Bread].

Finishing his short meal, Kirito took out his [R. Steel Longsword], and opened the menu. Under the stats of the sword, there were two gauges. The first gauge said '200/500' and the second gauge said '0/?', implying some progress indicator with the 'Orb of Lightning'. Kirito figured the first gauge probably was the amount needed to make the orb usable again, and until that happened he would probably be stuck using the otherwise inferior sword.

"Well… back to more grinding…" Kirito said to himself, as he walked back into the field.

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"299." Kirito cheered inside as he almost finished charging up the orb, he turned his attention to the next gnome, who was hiding behind a tree and observing the perfect moment to steal from fro Kirito. Lunging at full speed, Kirito tossed his blade into the air, causing the gnome to look at the sword in the sky, quickly grabbing the gnome's arm while it was distracted, Kirito attacked the opponent with his martial arts skill – [Open Hand Strike].

As the elf was stunned by the strike, it was held in place by Kirito's who had grabbed its arm. Kirito raised his other hand, grabbing the sword he had tossed into the air previously, and performed a [Vertical Arc] at point blank range, followed by a [Savage Fulcrum]. Finishing off the chain of skills, Kirito let go of the gnome and sent it flying with [Cannon Fist], and as the gnome flew backwards into a tree, Kirito threw his blade at the gnome, impaling it and shattering it into countless polygons.

_DONE! Now to see what the 'orb of lightning' is like when activated._

_Grinning, Kirito walked to the tree where the [R. Steel Longsword] was embedded in the tree, the sword now had a light yellow glow, and purple sparks occasionally arced from the surface of the sword._

_Putting his hand on the hilt, Kirito felt a slight tingle as he pulled the sword from the tree. He opened up the weapon menu, and saw that the first bar was at 500/500, and the second bar was still at 0/?. Looking further down, several additional lines were added to the description._

_Hmm... [AGI + X, X being a function of the wielder's level and level of the orb.], so that means the user gains an agility bonus as he/she becomes stronger, this could be potentially a devastating weapon... then there's this mysterious [Attacks have elemental damage.], I wonder what that means?_

_Furthermore, [Immune to paralysis]?! That's a god-send right there... and added to that [Attacks have a 10% chance to cause paralysis]... I'm really hating the fact that [User not compatible with current element] is on the status. This would be the ultimate item..._

_Pressing on the sword again, Kirito noticed that the popup menu did not have the expected options - he had expected the options of [Absorb] on the [Orb of Lightning], instead it had the option of [Detach]. Pressing the [Detach] button, Kirito watched as sparks of static converge and materialize into the orb, which Kirito put back in the inventory. Looking at the sword now, it had the same stats as the original sword._

_Well, at least the orb is functional now, guess I'll worry about it later. Kirito thought to himself, as he returned his two original swords to his equipment icon. Heading back into the field, he continued to fight the gnomes for experience and refining materials._

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [17:30]

Location: [11th Floor –Taft Tavern]

Walking into the tavern, the two guilds Furinkazaan and BCoFM (Black Cats of the Full Moon) sat down at their tables and ate their food. All the members were tired from the previous field boss battle, but were visibly excited that they had defeated another foe blocking their way to freedom.

"Looks like we survived another large battle, looks like we can do it without his help afterall." Klein laughed as he took a drink from his pitcher, filled with alcoholic drinks that would never get the player drunk.

"I must say that Asuna-san is definitely a talented leader, though she is very strict at times." Keita commented.

"True, now I understand why Kirito had a hard time around her." Agil spoke in his as-a-matter-of-fact voice, and the other players at the table laughed in response.

"The fight was pretty one-sided though, thanks to our recent additions. It looks like we've become quite the clearing force around Aincrad. Maybe we should simply go take out the floor boss while we're at it."

"Klein-san, you're being unreasonable here, even if we've gotten stronger, it's still risky to take on the floor boss." Keita retorted.

"It'll be fine, we'll just call Kirito back and he'll make sure we kick the boss' behind." Klein's remark sent the group into another round of laughter.

"Talking about Kirito-san, where did he go?" Nezha asked, continuing the question from earlier on.

"Promise me you won't mention this to Asuna OK? Otherwise we all will get in trouble... to put it simply, Kirito went to explore the lower floors, while Asuna wanted to continue clearing the game. Naturally they got into an argument, so Kirito ended up going alone." Klein sighed as he downed another drink.

"So why didn't we help Kirito-san? He might be a really strong player, but it's still very dangerous to solo an unknown floor." Nezha expressed his concern.

"We tried to have a few of us tag along with Kiritio, but he rejected our offer saying it was his desire to take on those levels solo. I think he was just trying to prevent us from becoming falling out of the front lines, now that we've finally caught up in terms of levels." Keita answered Nezha's question.

"Kirito-san is always watching out for us, he spent a great deal of his time to train our guild, and even accompanied us to fight lower field bosses so that we'd be used to fighting on the front lines. In a way, our guild is here purely due to the help of Kirito-san." Sachi added.

"So I suppose you're guild is in the same boat as us. Although we _were_ amongst the clearing group back in the second floor, we pretty much got exiled after the floor boss battle. Although we're still not 100% caught up on levels, it was thanks to Kirito introducing us to Klein, that we can fight back on the front lines." Nezha looked to his five friends, who nodded in return.

"I suppose that makes our entire group here 'Team Kirito' then, sort of ironic when you consider how the guys always claims that 'He's a solo player'…" Klein lifted his cup, and toasted to his friend who was probably fighting on an unknown floor.

"Klein, so what are your plans after dinner?" Keita asked the red-haired bandit who was chugging away at drinks.

"Judging from Asuna's character, she's probably going to arrive around 20:00, quickly finish her dinner, and then command us all back to the field to level. It would seem that she wants to get this floor cleared within the next days." Klein replied.

"I hope that's enough for us to bring our levels back to par." Nezha commented hesitantly.

"Don't worry Nezha, we'll do our best to catch up. We have to… in order to attone for the sins that we accumulated." Nezha's friend Orlando reassured him.

"We'll help you guys train as well, since we still have a little slack to give before the main guild catches up to us. We're hoping to aim for level 25 this floor, with a minimum of level 22 to be safe." Klein explained, "Of course, it's be great if we could exceed that guy in terms of level, but I wouldn't be holding my breath since we're talking to a crazy SAO addict, who probably is munching on another piece of [Black Bread] as he eats on the fly…"

The dinner erupted into another round of laughter, the previous tension from the boss fight completely dissipated.

Suddenly, Nezha jumps out of his seat and points at the window.

"What is it?" One of the former Braves, Beowulf asks.

"The guy who taught us the quick switch scam!"

One of the members of the former [Legend Braves], Cú Chulainn, quickly jumped out of his seat and dashed to the door and ran outside. Everyone else also got up and started looking out the window, searching for the culprit that arguably committed the greatest crime in SAO so far.

"Tsk! He got away!" Cú Chulainn returned to the tavern, delivering the shocking news to the rest of the players.

"That's ridiculous, you already have the highest AGI of all of us, being full AGI." Poland exclaimed.

"Apparently that guy is faster, I couldn't even catch up." The reply created a silence within the tavern.

"Anyways, there's nothing we can do at this point, don't worry about it Lancer. It's not like he was spying on us… I think." Klein tried to disperse the tension that had suddenly built up again.

"Wait… why are you calling me Lancer?" Cú Chulainn asked.

"Well, your name reminds me of a classic game I played way back…" Klein said in a slightly embarrassed voice. It seemed that his attempt to ease the tension backfired on him, as Cú Chulainn seemed visibly upset.

"I know what game you played... that classic text game by Moon-Type." Cú Chulainn replied, "But that doesn't mean you should just go changing my name."

**_(Author Note: _**_Mention of FSN avoided for copyright issues, as everyone does, including the original LN author... lol…)_

"Sorry about that, I'll call you something else then. How about Sétanta? Mr. Cú?" Klein did not seem to grasp the reason that Cú Chulainn was angry.

"Cú is fine…. I don't even want to ask why you were playing that game…"

"To make things even, you can call Klein 'Mr. 21, single and lonely'…" Agil's intervention suddenly caused an instant uproar, and the building tension was drowned by a sea of laughter… at the expense of Cú and Klein…

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**[Date: December 15, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [19:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Road to Taft]

_Returning from their quick exploration of the labyrinth area, Asuna and the girls were mainly quiet. It wasn't due to the stress or fatigue from fighting in the frontier labyrinth, or the fact that they were tired or wanted to eat. They were quiet because of the spectacle of the man that travelled with them, the man who was a mere stranger hours before - Heathcliff._

_Despite having been used to seeing highly competent players, mainly due to being on the frontlines, the girls were all amazed at Heathcliff's abilities. The silver-haired man gave the sense of absolute strength when he fought, and never displayed a single moment of weakness - even when facing monsters they had never fought before at the very front of the exploration._

_Every attack was precisely place, and every defense was impenetrable. Heathcliff gave a different feel from the other player that seemed out of the world. While Kirito gave people the image of a blazing swordsman that attempted all possibilities in order to win, Heathcliff gave the impression of one who fights with by eliminating all possibilities of defeat. The difference in styles was as night is to day, and the girls wondered what would happen if the two were to one day duel each other._

_"It was a pleasure partying with you all today, and I've learn a great deal about the benefits of partying." Heathcliff was the first to break the silence._

_"No, we're the ones to have been benefitted. I doubt we would have been able to reach the fifth floor of the labyrinth so quickly, had you not joined us in the exploration." Asuna replied humbly, she had learnt to respect the skill of this player, even though she still had doubts as to whether to trust him._

_"I must say that meeting you has given me the vision of how my future guild should be, I'm glad to have been able to meet you. Perhaps it was the doing of destiny." Heathcliff suddenly said. "Perhaps it is inappropriate to tell you this, but ever since starting in SAO, I have lost all my memories the me prior to entering SAO."_

_"What?" The girls gasped, as Heathcliff continued._

_"At first I was completely at a loss as to where I was, nor did I know my identity. Luckily, the tutorial showed many of us how to survive in the game, and soon I met up with Godfree. His upbeat attitude really helped me get off my feet, and I am glad that I actually ventured out of [Starting City] and to the front lines."_

_As if on cue, Godfree joined into the conversation, "It was amazing watching Heathcliff fight, I can't even remember where I met him now, but I remember how when I saw him I was like 'WOW, SO COOL!'. So one thing led to another and here we are, and soon we'll be even bigger."_

_The girls looked at each other, as the entire mood of the conversation was destroyed in an instant. Godfree looked at the girls with a puzzled expression, and was about to continue._

_"If you don't mind me asking, why are you telling us all this? Are you trying to invite us into your guild?" Asuna cut the pleasantries and asked._

_"I would be lying if I said I did not have the intention to do so, but right now I'm just hoping to develop a greater understanding between all of us. I hope that eventually you will understand us enough to realize that joining us would be the best choice." Heathcliff replied calmly._

_"Honestly, I find you slightly suspicious." Lisbeth added_

_"Which is fine for now. Trust is, after all, built on the basis of understanding and resolution of suspicions." Heathcliff countered her comment perfectly._

_"Okay everyone, how about we head to the tavern quickly? Otherwise, we won't have too much time to eat since we have to meet the others at 20:00." Silica interrupted, trying to change the topic._

_Understanding Silica's intent, everyone stopped arguing and started making their way back into town. The others would probably be waiting by now, having spent two hours in their quick exploration of the labyrinth._

_Walking through the entrance of the town, a player wearing a black poncho comes towards them._

_"Excuse me, do you happen to know whether a frontline player by the name of Kirito is here?" The player under the poncho asked for a name that was familiar with many of the players._

_"Huh? Do you know Kirito-kun? He's not on this floor, but probably one of the lower floors. Why are you looking for him? Would you like us to contact him?" Lisbeth blurted out of curiosity, while the other girls looked at the mysterious player._

_"Oh, don't worry about it, I'll find him myself. I'm guess you're heading to dinner? Buen apetito!" The hooded player spoke in a weird manner prior to walking away quickly._

_"What did he just say?" Leafa asked._

_"I'm not certain, but what he said sounded like a foreign language." Asuna spoke hesitantly._

_"I think he was wishing us a good appetite in Spanish, though it's surprising that someone would speak that language here." Heathcliff was the one to come with the answer._

_"I'm more surprised that you can understand, did you really lose your memories?" Lisbeth spoke sternly._

_"I'm not sure as to why either, it may be possible that I have learnt the language before. I just know the words as part of my knowledge, but still my memories are hazy at best." Heathcliff answered without a tint of falsehood in his voice._

_"Let's not dwell on this anymore, everyone's waiting." Once again, Silica was the one to break up the tension. As she almost literally dragged the other players down the street, nobody noticed that the man under the poncho had turned around._

_"So the chosen one has left the front lines. This will get interesting soon" The man gave a ricked grin, and walked towards the town portal._

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**Author End Notes:**

A little bit of a 'cooldown' chapter, as I get ready to set up for a short time skip for the floor boss fight. (As well as a little level tweaking...)

For those that have asked, the Heathcliff that has appeared in front of Asuna is NOT Kayaba. That explains why his attitude is a little off, as well as his memory loss. How much of an AI is Heathcliff outside of combat, I'll figure that out later.

As for the poncho person, this character was first introduced in the web-novel "Rondo of Illusionary Sword". I'm sure people reading the LN already know who this person is...

Just a few more loose ends... soon I'll be making a slightly longer time skip, and will be introducing the OC's that people have gracefully given me, as well as a few OC from yours truly. (Plus one that I blatantly ripped off another series... lol.)

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 11 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 9431 (+? players)

**Characters: **

_Kirito's group: 23 + himself:_

**Kirito 27**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop**

**Leafa 22**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 3H3S3D] 10/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 24 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**[Boots of the Hornet]**

**Silica 24**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 23**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 22**

**L12 [Felicia's Claws 7Q] 8/8**

**Klein 24**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 24**

**L20 [ Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 21**

**L20 [ Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[ Kiteshield]**

Keita - 20

Tetsuo - 18

Ducker - 18

Sasamaru - 18

Nezha - 19

Other Legend Brave 15-21

Other Fuurinkazan 20-23

/Lynd (DDA) - 22

Other DDA 15-20

/Diabel - 21

/Thinker - 19

/Coper - 20

/Kibaou - 18

Other ALF 15-20

/Heathcliff - 25

/Godfree - 22

/Aki - ? 19

\Mika - 13

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12


	56. The Beginning of Legends

The Beginning of Legends

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe._

_Q&A:_

Laeveteinn: Nope, you didn't miss anything. Apart from the fact that both orbs of light and dark charge up, and the fact that Kirito has 2 useless spells, there is no other information about the two orbs.

**_NOTICE! REGARDING OC SUBMISSIONS:_**

**THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR SUBMITTING OC'S, they will be edited shortly and put in when the time is right. If you're character is listed in Ch.3 then I've received it and will be review it soon. (When I can)**

**If your character is in Ch.2, please send me a message to confirm your character Stats and Skills, I'm guessing I'll start introducing them in a few chapters... (hopefully... no guarantee OK?)**

The background info that you submitted will remain in its original form in Ch.3. Thanks again

**LOL... in the spirit of the "SAO Infinity Moment" PSP release coming soon...anyone want to submit a 'bow' user? Make sure you include a real weapon as well.. This IS Sword Art Online after all...**

**(Note, bow users will have a limited skill range of 20M. Crossbow limit of 5 shots per salvo, no homing arrows. Bow = Extended version of throwing weapons)**

**Please note that all characters submitted may possibly be killed off or faded into oblivion, depending on plot necessities. Oh... and PLEASE... no more candidates for Kirito's harem, he's got took many to be able to handle already... j/k LOL...**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

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**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]

Location: [7th Floor – Outside Boss Room]

Kirito sat on the floor in the hallway outside the floor boss' room, gasping for air. Unlike the previous floor boss, this time Kirito has no intention of fighting, purely concentrating on fleeing. What he did not expect was that the floor was tilted towards the boss, and he had to run uphill to reach the exit.

_What on earth, that felt like fleeing from a quicksand pit. I had to get on all fours and crawl out of the room._

Looking at his HP, Kirito was relieved by the 80% he saw on the top left of his vision. Despite the stage being difficult to maneuver in, the floor boss itself was relatively slow to attack, a stark contrast to the dragon the he had to face earlier. What concerned Kirito was the fact that the boss was level 30, which probably meant that the boss was going to be hard to kill.

_Oh well, I'll cross the bridge when I get to it. Kirito thought optimistically, and got up to head out of the labyrinth._

_I wonder how the others are doing? I'm guessing the floor boss meeting will happen soon... hope everything will go well for them. Wish I was able to take part, but at this rate I probably won't even make it for the 12th._

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**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Taft Tavern]

Contrary to the usual light-hearted atmosphere that was normal for a tavern, today's meeting was filled with unusual tension. The normally half-filled tavern was filled with players, dressed in the best equipment available so far.

Gathered at the largest table of the tavern, three distinct groups sat in opposing positions. On one side, the curved blade user, leader of the Divine Dragon Alliance, Lynd, sat silently. Diagonally across him, sat the three main figures of the Aincrad Liberation Force - Thinker, Diabel, and Kibaou. Facing them, Asuna stood with her hands on the table, her eyes flaring with irritation.

"That is completely ridiculous! How does it make sense that we have to focus with the guardians, again?"

Kibaou let out a laugh, "Why not? Small fry like you should stick to taking out the guardians. It's only natural to let the big boys handle the boss. Be glad that we're letting women like you..." Kibaou's taunt was stopped as Diabel put his hand in front of him.

"I apologize for his rude attitude, but understand that as Aincrad's largest guild, we have to prioritize the clearing of the floor over the fairness of party distribution." Diabel compromised on attitude, but his words were not any more compromising.

"In that case, it makes even more sense to have us have a larger participation in the raid. I'm sure that you're aware of the fact that we have the highest leveled players right now, and having more of us in the raid will greatly increase the chance of success." Asuna quickly retorted.

"While that may be true, the players in your group are less experienced in actual combat. Suddenly involving many inexperienced players will affect the overall balance of the raid, and will inevitably increase the chance of players dying." Diabel held his ground as he spoke.

"Also, while we don't hold grudges against the former members of Legends Brave, we feel that they are not yet at the level to be able to fight the floor boss." Lynd suddenly added, glancing at the six members that stood behind Klein, wearing normal armor that could be purchased at the NPC.

"But these guys trained hard, and they're all above level 20." Klein complained out loud, dissatisfied at Lynd's reasoning.

"I'm not talking about their level, but their equipment. Don't get me wrong, I hold no grudge over what happened on the second floor, but the fact is that these six had to give up all their possessions in order to atone for their crimes on the second floor. Having to start all over financially is not an easy task, and it is clear that those six have yet to catch up in terms of equipment. If they are one day able to close the gap in equipment, I would personally welcome them to the raid. Unfortunately, that day is not today." Lynd's justified explanation left Klein speechless.

"Well, you can sure bet that we're not going to agree with being sidelined again. Even if we only put two parties in, you guys will still have 18 people each, isn't that enough? Or are you planning to send level 15 recruits to fight the boss? While we overkill the guardians?" Asuna glared at the other players at the table, the irritation in her voice became critical.

At this moment, Thinker stood up and bowed to Asuna. "I'm sorry Asuna-san, but this is an arrangement that the ALF made with Lynd-san, that we would send an equal amount of players into the main boss raid group. Unfortunately it also doesn't make sense for each of us to send 3 and a half parties, as it could endanger our players."

"It still doesn't justify how your guilds are basically forcing all the other players into the sidelines." Asuna shot back, and Thinker lowered his head even further. "I'm still waiting for a reasonable proposal from you guys."

"I'm sorry, but the best we can do is allow you into our ranks. Understand that we are not trying to monopolize the gains from the boss battles, but we need to maintain the structure of the floor clearing raids."

"Not good enough." Asuna denied Thinker's offer, "How about this? Either you guys figure out a satisfying proposal, or we'll just go ahead and attack the boss on our own."

At this point, the spikey-haired player let out a loud laugh, and spoke arrogantly. "Ha! You think you guys can take out a floor boss with an unorganized group such as yours. Go ahead!"

"Kibaou-san!" Diabel turned to Kibaou, trying to stop him for further aggravating Asuna, but Kibaou turned to Lynd and Thinker instead. "So how about we strike them a deal? If these fools can take out the floor boss, then we'll let them join the raids from here on out. Once they fail, they can know their place and fight like the small fry that they are."

Lynd turned to Thinker and then Diabel, who were also exchanging glances. While the way Kibaou presented his challenge was utterly disrespectful, it was a good plan. In the case that Asuna's group succeeded, then they would obviously be a force to be respected. In the case they failed, it would also pave the way for the two guilds to split command of the floor raids.

"Very well, I accept." Lynd agreed swiftly.

"Personally, I do not like such provocation, but I agree that Kibaou-san's method is plausible." Thinker spoke, as Diabel nodded standing beside him.

"So, little lady, do you have the guts to accept?" Kibaou sneered.

"On one condition: If we succeed, then everyone here will watch me duel this cactus-head. Someone here needs to be taught the meaning of respect, and I don't mind being the teacher." Asuna's icy glare made the entire room feel slightly colder.

"Very well, I pray for your victory. How many days do you need to prepare, we would like this settled as soon as possible, for the benefits of those waiting on lower levels." Diabel inquired the rapier-user.

"If the gate to the next floor is still closed by tomorrow morning, then it's your win." Asuna answered confidently.

"Very well, I must say I'm impressed at your confidence, even though you're missing your strongest player." Lynd nodded approvingly.

"Well, it's hard to say if Kirito-kun's the highest leveled player, since he's not here. Besides, even if he's not here, we also have another player that's at least as strong as him." Asuna grinned, as he looked to the silver-haired man standing to the side, who stepped forward as if on cue.

"My name is Heathcliff, the leader of the guilds 'Knight of the Blood'. We will be lending our assistance to Asuna-san for the time being. Glad to become acquainted with you all." The man gave a gracious bow, as he stated his intentions to support Asuna.

"Anyways, you guys can all sit here and enjoy a day off, we'll be sending your the good news later tonight." Asuna turned around and left the table, walking out the tavern as the

twenty-three players followed..

Back in the tavern, the cactus-haired sub-leader had a wicked grin on his face, as he watched the departing party vanish over the horizon

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**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00]

Location: [7th Floor – Tranquil Plains]

"Guess I'll continue the usual... though I suppose that's not accurate, since these mobs are much higher in level..." Kirito spoke to himself again, as he drew his blades. Facing the mob [Dark Field Fox], Kirito darted forward and started his attack with an uppercut to the mob's mid-section, cutting the underside of the fox and sending it into the air.

Following up with a [Sonic Leap] into the air, Kirito then used his other blade to land another strike, followed with a [Vertical Arc]. As the mob began to fall to the floor, Kirito dropped his blade to the floor, and impacted the mob with his [Cannon Fist], sending the mob back into the air. Watching the HP reach the red zone, Kirito lifted his blade, and skewered the mob, which shattered upon impact.

_I guess these mobs are a little too easy, oddly... time to search for higher leveled mobs in the area... if I'm not mistaken, there's an area in the forest where the highest leveled mobs of this floor pop._

Looking at the [Gigas Vitalus] in the distance, Kirito began to walk towards the forest, killing the occasional mob that he encountered. At one level short of 30, Kirito effortlessly dispatched the mobs as he walked towards the forest.

_I hope I'm not falling behind in terms of level... I have been leveling a little too slow as of late... _

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**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [14:00]

Location: [11th Floor – Outside Boss Room]

"OK, this boss fight will determine our future as front-liners. Let's show everyone what we can do." Asuna shouted, as she opened the door.

"Honestly... it feels like we've been had... but oh well, here goes..." Klein muttered as he led his group to follow.

"Let's go, we'll make Kirito proud of our achievements." Keita said, as his Black Cats followed.

"They sure are an energetic bunch." Heathcliff remarked, and Godfree grinned beside him, "Looks like it'll be exciting from now on Heathcliff-san, let go... RAWR!"

"Here we go again..." Lisbeth sighed as she followed.

"Leafa-san, let's go!" Silica pulled on Leafa's arm, as she followed along with her pet dragon.

_Onii-chan, please watch over me. _Leafa thought, as she drew her sword and dashed in.

Inside the boss room, the room was pitch dark. As the group adjusted to the low light, the boss' red eyes started to glow in the dark.

Looking at the boss' cursor, five HP bars appeared beside the name [Gobel the Goblin King], the goblin raised its battle-axe, and leapt into the air.

"So far it's as the quest information told us, make sure to beware of the [Whirlwind] attack!" Asuna shouted as she got in position.

Watching as the Black Cats and Klein's bandit group dish out the first rounds of combat, Asuna quickly turned to Heathcliff. "Heathcliff-san, are you sure you want to block the boss' attacks alone?"

"I should be able to manage, I'll leave the rest to you." Heathcliff's reply was short, his gaze focused on the floor boss.

"Very well, I'll leave it to you." Asuna nodded as she looked at the battling groups, getting ready to dash out when the group rotation occurs.

_If all goes well, this should take around two hours._

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"HA!" Klein's [Reaver] slashes the goblin's arm, as he jumps backwards into air, triggering his [Fell Crescent] with another high-power strike which knocks Gobel backwards.

"Issin! Kunimittz!" Klein yells as he jumps backwards. His two guild-mates quickly take his place, and land their attacks on the Goblin.

"I leave it to you!" Klein nods at the Black Cats, who closed the distance to the boss mob.

The first to close was Tetsuo, whose spinning [Roundhouse] hit the goblin leg and distorted its balance. This was followed up with two attacks from Sasamaru and Ducker, with an [Overhead Smash] from Keita to finish up the group combo.

As the goblin gets up and smashes its axe towards the group, Sachi dashes forward and parries the axe away. She then closes the distance and executes [Salvage Fulcrum], tracing a number 4 on the goblin's torso.

Jumping into the air, her [Sharp Nail] deals two more hits on the mob, and her finishing stab is met with the goblin's battleaxe in midair, sending both parties backwards.

"Switch!" Performing a back-flip midair, she calls to the next group.

"Let's go!" Asuna spoke softly to Leafa who was standing beside her, and the two girls charged forwards towards the Goblin floor boss.

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One hour later, the forth HP bar of the field boss had almost disappeared, and Asuna was standing a fair distance away from the mob, watching as the other members attacked the boss.

They were doing extremely well, considering the fact that they were only half the size of a full raid group, and nobody had sustained any significant damage throughout. She was especially impressed with how well the Black Cats fought against the floor boss, considering that this was one of their first major battles.

_Then there's Heathcliff... who is on a league of his own._

During the group switches, Heathcliff had single-handedly fended off all the attacks coming from the boss. During his defensive rounds, he did not make a single mistake, and throughout the entire hour his HP still has not dropped below 80%. Heathcliff's impenetrable defenses allowed Asuna's group to focus purely on offense, and was a significant reason that they were now ahead of the original planned schedule.

"Get ready everyone! The mob's about to go red!" Asuna yelled, as she saw the last lines of the 4th HP bar disappear. The group immediately formed behind the line of forwards, who held their weapons and shields out in a defensive position.

Giving out a powerful roar, the Goblin King started swinging its battleaxe, then hurled it at the group. The giant axe collided into Heathcliff's shield, and was sent into the air stabbing into the ceiling. Heathcliff slid back over 20m before he stabilized his stance, as he grinned and pulled out his first potion - his health was still in the green, though it was the lowest he had ever been at so far.

Staring at the floor boss, the group reformed their defensive line, and prepared for the beginning of the final phase of battle. As they watched the Goblin pulled out its weapon, the Goblin's name changed to [Gobel the Goblin of Death], and Gobel brandished a scythe that was significantly longer than the length of its body.

"Somehow, this feels really out of place." Klein muttered, having never heard a scythe wielding goblin in all his gaming history.

"Complain to the GM once we've escaped this game, we're starting!" Asuna scolded Klein, then she dashed forwards past the defending line towards the boss.

Suddenly, the floor boss swung its scythe towards the group, the wind blew across the room and chipped away at the player's HP.

"Be careful, the blade is razor sharp, make sure you evade!" Asuna shouted as she dodged the attacks. Closing in towards the goblin, she readied her rapier to strike, whilst dodging a large arching attack by the mob.

After landing multiple stabs on the goblin, Asuna charges a [Linear] and stabs it into the neck of the mob, causing it to stumble backwards. The other did not miss the opportunity, and a shower of hits littered the floor boss in red streaks.

"As long as we dodge the first strike, we should be able to damage the boss. Nezha, the throat seems to be the weak spot, try to hit it if you can!" Asuna announced as she jumped backwards to a safe distance.

"Must say this is easier than I thought! Take this!" Klein shouted as he landed another [Reaver] on the mob, before jumping to the side. Managing to exploit the attack delay of the boss mob, the group maintained their formation perfectly as they continued to damage the Goblin's HP.

The roar of the Goblin King echoed in the room, as the onslaught continued, and soon the Goblin's HP reached 60% of the final bar. Once again Asuna was preparing to rotate with the attacking group, when he heard a worrisome voice.

"Something's wrong..." Leafa's voice caught Asuna's attention.

"What is? We're faring pretty well here." Asuna glanced at Leafa, while keeping her attention on the battle.

"Well... a goblin wielding a scythe in the first place. More importantly, this goblin is very slow." Leafa couldn't express herself properly, having limited experience in MMO gaming, but it was enough for Asuna to understand.

"True, just as how I would not use a battle axe with my stats. There may have been something we overlooked." Asuna was suddenly shocked with realization, "So THAT'S why Spikey was so eager for us to fight first, he wanted us to reveal the boss' trump card. Well, we'll put his scheming to waste, let's go!"

Before the attacking group needed to retreat, Asuna charged forward, with Leafa following behind. Their advance was cut short when suddenly the goblins let out a loud roar and collapsed onto the floor.

"Is it over?" Keita asked, slightly relaxing his shoulders

"But the mob still had 50%..." Klein replied, "normally the boss freezes and shatters as well... OH NO! EVERYONE MOVE BACK!"

Klein's warning was responded by a large shockwave originating from the floor boss, sending everyone flying backwards. The two resting groups put their weapons up, and tried ineffectively to move up and take their place, stuck by the gust of wind that sandblasted their bodies.

By the time the wind subsided, Asuna saw the true form of the floor boss. Still with half a bar of HP left, the remnants of the Goblin King was covered in a dark myst. The name [The Reaper of the Goblin King] glowed on top of the mob's head, and its scythe seemed adequately sized to the larger body of the mob.

"Quick! We need to buy the others some time!" Asuna charged in full-speed, leaving everybody in her group behind as she attempted to buy time for the others to recover their weapons and heal.

Watching the Reaper raise its scythe, Asuna predicted the attack path and dodged the weapon, dashing into close range - a range that the scythe should be ineffective. However...

"Asuna-san, WATCH OUT!" Silica's words were too late for Asuna, who barely noticed the pole section of the scythe his her on the side. Sent into the air, Asuna turned to face the mob, which suddenly vanished and appeared above her.

"WHAT?!" Asuna was shocked as she barely had enough time to block the scythe which slashed at her from above. The resulting shockwave sent her flying diagonally downwards, flying towards into the wall with a crash.

_I was careless there... should have known that the attack pattern wasn't so easy to read. What kind of attack was that anyways? _Asuna got up, and noted her HP down to 30%, drinking a potion, she quickly got up.

In the meantime, Leafa and Heathcliff had gathered the boss' attention, and was engaged in a furious bout of attack and defense with the mob. This time the mob's speed was on a completely different level, and the two were unable to create any openings for the rest of the group to attack.

"Nezha, Sachi, Silica, support!" Asuna called to the three with long-range capabilities, as she charged towards the floor boss after recovering her health. She would need to distract the mob enough so that she could execute a close range assault.

As if understanding Asuna's intent, the mob's eyes suddenly glowed red, and it pulled its scythe backwards to strike. As if it had vanished, the Reaper suddenly charged at the trio of players that were attacking a distance. Neither Leafa nor Heathcliff were able to stop the boss' sudden move, as the mob's scythe prepared to slash at the three undefended players.

Luckily, the scythe's slash was double-blocked by a battle-axe and a shield. The Reaper let out a noise that sounded like a grunt of dissatisfaction, as it quickly made distance.

"Good judgment there Sachi-san, it was a good choice to move up and defend the attacking group." Agil smile to the girl who suggested to defend the group.

"I'm just doing what Kirito-san taught us to do. He mentioned that speed users with high sprint skill can move at speeds barely observable, so it's natural that a floor boss might have that as well." Sachi replied with a confident smile, being satisfied that she was able to put Kirito's words into practice.

Across the field, Asuna let out a sigh of relief, as Leafa and Heathcliff joined her.

"It looks like getting a hit on the boss will be hard, we need to distract it." Leafa said.

"How though, it's maneuverability is something that we've never seen." Asuna replied.

At this point, Heathcliff stepped up. "Let me draw its attention" The request surprised both girls.

"Are you serious?" Asuna asked.

"Yes, I should be able to defend against it." Heathcliff replied as he dashed towards the Reaper.

"Wait up!" Leafa cried, as the two girls followed Heathcliff's charge towards the floor boss.

The glow that appeared on Heathcliff's body attracted the Goblin Reaper, and just as it had vanished away from Heathcliff, this time the Reaper appeared in front of the silver-haired paladin. A large clash occurred, and the mob's scythe was squarely blocked by Heathcliff's shield. Grinning, Heathcliff pushed away the scythe and thrust forward his sword stabbing the mob in the chest, leading it to roar in agony.

The mob suddenly started slashing furiously at Heathcliff, and dark streaks streamed through the air.

"What?" Asuna was stunned by the spectacle that was occurring in front of her. Despite the flurry of attacks from he mob, Heathcliff has somehow managed to divert all of the attacks, and was holding it to a standstill.

"Everyone, get ready to attack!" Heathcliff ordered calmly, as he continued to block the oncoming attacks. Asuna bent her knees and got into position, while Leafa dropped her shield and held her sword in both hands over her head. Behind them, the rest of the group had also prepared to launch their strongest attack.

"NOW!" Heathcliff shouted as he suddenly threw his shield at the Reapers face, impacting it in its eyes. At the same time he swung his sword at the scythe, and both weapons flew into the air.

Completely defenseless, the Reaper was subsequently skewered and slashed by two dozen (minus one) weapons, and let out a screech as it burst into oblivion.

"Finally..." Klein exclaimed as he collapsed to the floor, as the 'Congratulations' message appeared in the air.

Excited cheers continued to fill the boss room, and in the middle the silver-haired man looked up at the ceiling, silently embracing the mood.

"I'll never underestimate a scythe-wielding player or mob ever again..." Asuna dropped to her knees. "but we did it!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx

**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [18:15]

Location: [7th Floor – Pillars of the Seven Stars]

Kirito stood on the marble floor, both blades drawn and ready. In front of him the duel counter slowly ticked down from 60, foreshadowing the eventual clash that would occur. He did not expect any of this, and was still recovering from the shock.

_Why is there a player down here in this floor?_

_How did this girl get here? Why is she dueling me?_

_Why do her eyes show such sorrow?_

The various thoughts that clouded Kirito's mind vanished as the clock counted down.

Bending his knees, Kirito prepared for the final seconds.

"3...2...1... DUEL!"

**Author End Notes:**

Finally... another floor cleared..

This time Heathcliff gets to show off his 1337 defense skills (also known as CHEATING)... obviously this will set up Heathcliff's domination as the 'Man of Legends'. Still undecided whether to chuck Asuna with KoB though...

Oh the other side, Kirito keeps going deeper, and now he's stuck in a duel... though I'm sure the result is already a foregone conclusion. The fun of dramatic irony...

Just a little more of Kirito's Solo-Arc.. and then we'll move on to (hopefully) better plots...

**Cheat Notes****:**

Current floor: 11 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 9431 (+? players)

**Characters:**

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

Kirito 29

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 26

L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15

[Bullish Shield+9]

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 27

L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9

[Boots of the Hornet]

Silica 27

L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9

Lisbeth 26

L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8

Argo 23

Klein 27

L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9

Agil 27

L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9

[Taurus Backshield+5]

Sachi 24

L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9

[Kiteshield]

Keita - 23

Tetsuo - 22

Ducker - 22

Sasamaru - 22

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-24

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 25

Other DDA 16-23

/Diabel - 25

/Thinker - 23

/Coper - 23

/Kibaou - 22

Other ALF 16-23

Heathcliff - 27

Godfree - 25

Daizan (non-combat) - 16

Other KoB

/Aki - 25

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	57. SEVEN

SEVEN

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

_WARNING: This chapter may seem quite a fanboy-ish, and if you don't like it... TOO BAD! J/K..._

_Anyways... there may be those who take it as bad taste, but I'm too influenced in the character concept to be able to claim the new character as my own... so might as well admit that I took 'inspiration' and ripped the design off._

_(Oh, and don't worry about that little Wild Arms 5 tidbit, nobody's having memory loop issues apart from Kirito...)_

_Q&A:_

A Jack Frost Guy: I have your character, and will be reviewing it and adding it (along with everyone else's) as the story progresses.

Creator of the **OC Aixen, **can you PM me? I've slightly changed your char so I want to know if you're OK with the changes.

**AstralXYZ, KojiroKun, Takei Daloui, DuelingFreak, can you please confirm the initial stats/skills are OK? I'll probably introduce the characters before heading to floor 13, and everything will be final once they step on the stage. I'll PM you one chapter before I decide to involve your OC significantly.**

**Thanks to everyone that contributed an OC. I'll try my best to integrate them into the story as it progresses. I apologize in advance if the characters don't turn out the way you wanted it to, but I'll try to at least be fair. (and if I'm not, please don't bomb my inbox... **:) **)**

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

**My crossover fanfic is up! YAY! (Applause please? LOL)**

Anyways, it'll be about a few short tidbits merging the character that I ripped over to this AU... please give it a read if you have time.

**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [18:00]

Location: [7th Floor – Pillars of the Seven Stars]

Finishing his leveling for the day, Kirito returned his blades to its sheaths and walked slowly through the forest. He had started to run low on healing supplies, and was traversing the forest to head to the town of Septum.

Suddenly, Kirito heard a voice singing through the woods. He searched his memories, and did not recall any particular quest that were activated in this area.

_Could this be a part of the special quest? But last I checked Kizmel should have been the person to speak to. So it's probably not related to the quest? Maybe it's some kind of release addition?_

With those questions in his mind, Kirito stepped up the hill and out of the forest. He was stunned at the sight of a girl around his age, sitting on a pillar elegantly, singing at the sky.

_Why is there a player at this level? Shouldn't I be the only one?_

Hiding his surprise, Kirito stood and watched the girl as she sang.

あなたと過ごした記憶が 水晶のように光ってる

Kirito listened to her sing, noting the slight sadness in her voice. The girl's voice seemed to be projecting to a person far away, a distant memory or person.

零れぬよう上を向いた 旅立ちは怖くない

_This song almost sounds familiar, I swear I heard it before._ Kirito, carried away in his thoughts, takes a step forward, and the leaves rustle as he approaches the girl.

Hearing the leaves, the girl stops singing and turns around abruptly.

"Stop there! Who are you?" The girl's gentle voice immediately transforms into a threatening one, as if a startled animal ready to strike.

"Sorry for startling you, I mean no harm." Kirito held his hands up in response to the girl's weapon pointed at him, making note of the rarity of the weapon that was pointed at him.

"..."

"My name is Kirito, and I just happened to pass by. May I know why you are here? There shouldn't be any players on this floor." Kirito explained.

"I do not know."

"How come? Were you teleported here? Most players should have started at [Starting City], so how did you get here?" Kirito asked in surprise.

"I do not remember." The girl's reply surprised Kirito even more.

_Amnesia? Is that even possible in this game? I've seen players that are FNC (Full-dive Non Conforming), but never have I seen anyone with memory loss. Could this have something to do with the system error that occurred earlier?_

Normally, Kirito would probably have decided to reply with some sort of vague reply, and then proceed to depart. However, in the past months he had developed a habit of taking care of others. Kirito was not consciously aware of it, but ever since the start of SAO, something had changed inside of him. _As if he had lived the consequences of his decisions many times over._

"It's OK, try not to think of it too much... How about we head to the town, we can try to figure everything out later." Kirito held out his hand, but was met with a flash of light, several throwing picks flew past him and into the forest.

"I don't trust you." The girl's reply was short and hostile.

Kirito looked at the girl who stood several meters ahead of him. She wore black leather armor skirt, and a cape on her shoulders. Apart from the usual elbow and knee metal guards, her armor level was minimal at best. What set her apart from any other female player - though that in itself was also a rarity, was the fact that she wielded a scythe. Kirito subconsciously took note that the girl was probably his age, and was also a unmistakable beauty that would match Asuna - of course that was of no concern for Kirito.

"Just to make sure, you do remember that we are in a situation where we can die if your HP reaches zero? Your armor is a little lacking, and it would be really dangerous if you tried to solo the mobs in this area." Kirito continued in his attempts to persuade the girl to join him, trying to appeal to the rational incentive of staying alive.

"I see, in that case I will be fine, I'll just make sure I don't get hit." The blond-haired girl gave a reply that caused Kirito to facepalm.

_When did I hear that before... I hope this one doesn't collapse shortly afterwards...I remember I had to carry Asuna back when she coll... WAIT... that never happened did it?_

All of a sudden, Kirito's mind was bombarded with memories... _memories of events that never occured... _ Kirito staggered forwards a bit, as he shook the thoughts from his head.

"What are you doing?!" The girl in front of Kirito took a step back, and drew her scythe backwards.

"Oh... I'm sorry, just that my memories... wait... did you say you lost your memories?"

The girl did not say a word, as she looked at him silently. Her eyes showed the tension of a cornered animal, ready to fight if the trigger was pulled.

"Sorry, nevermind..." Kirito apologized as he took one step back.

_So the other person with memory problems was ME! Doesn't matter, I'll worry about that later._

"Anyways, if I wish for you to join me and head to the village, what must I do?" Kirito changed his tactic, since it looked futile to persuade the girl.

The girl looked at Kirito with a surprised expression, her eyes conveying her thoughts.

"You're very persistent..." The girl spoke as she accessed the menu with her right hand.

"?!" A duel message pops up in front of Kirito

_Fate, huh. To think that my first duel would be against a scythe-wielding stranger. _Kirito thought while looking at the duel request sent to him.

"So you'll at least hear me out if I win the duel? Is that OK, Fate-san?" Kirito smiled as he looked at the surprised expression of the twin-tailed girl.

"That won't happen, as I will be the victor" The girl's replied expressionlessly, but a certain confidence was heard in her voice.

"Very well, may the best player win." Kirito clicked the 'First Effective Strike' option - the least damaging method, and accepted the duel.

"Just so you know, the conditions of winning are either to drop the opponent's health below 50%, or land an effective strike on the opponent. So don't worry, you won't die." Kirito explained, and realized that the opponent did not know about duel modes.

"..." The girl bent her knees and assumed an assault position, holding her scythe behind her as she prepared to strike.

Kirito stood on the marble floor, both blades drawn and ready. In front of him the duel counter slowly ticked down from 60, foreshadowing the eventual clash that would occur. Though he was not nervous, he had trouble focusing due to the questions that he had on his mind.

_Why is there a player down here in this floor?_

_How did this girl get here? Why is she dueling me?_

_Why do her eyes show such sorrow?_

The various thoughts that clouded Kirito's mind vanished as the clock counted down.

Bending his knees, Kirito prepared for the final seconds.

"3...2...1... DUEL!"

The girl in front of Kirito suddenly vanished from his vision, and Kirito instinctively jumped to the side while putting both blades out to parry. Sparks flew in front of Kirito's face as he viewed his opponent who had closed the distance of 15m in an instant.

"Amazing, I never thought a player would be able to reach that speed in two months." Kirito exclaimed as he pushed the scythe away with his blades. "Even the [Fūmaningun] ninja-guild never reached that speed during the three months of the closed beta."

The ultimate level of the sprint skill was called many names in the beta - instant movement; ground shrinking; flash step; flash move; sonic step. It was the goal of all AGI-players, and Kirito had almost mastered the skill in during the beta test.

Mastering the skill provided one overwhelming advantage, the ability to move beyond the speed of perception. This ability was overwhelming when used in friendly duels, as the opponent would be unable to track the movements. However, there was one drawback.

Seeing the girl disappear again, Kirito turned around and struck out both swords, predicting the location that the scythe would appear. The girl was taken aback by Kirito's response, and lost her balance.

"Too linear." Kirito pointed out the weakness of the ability, as he stabbed towards the girl's arm - even though no permanent damage existed Kirito did not feel it was right to slash a girl.

Kirito's needless worries turned out to be for naught, as the girl quickly pushed backwards, dodging his attack completely. She changed her stance and attacked from the other side, firing a round of throwing picks at Kirito.

_She's good, probably better than most of the players I've seen. _Kirito thought as he blocked the incoming picks.

Charging at the girl, Kirito executed his sword skill [Sonic Leap] and closed the distance between the girl, striking her with an [Uppercut] which was blocked by the pole of the scythe.

Dropping down to the ground, Kirito swept his leg around, causing the girl to jump into the air to dodge, Kirito quickly followed with a [Rage Spike] charging upwards towards the girl.

Clashing her scythe with Kirito's sword, the girl did a back-flip and pushed off one of the pillars, flying straight as Kirito. As Kirito was about to raise his hands to block, the girl vanished from Kirito's sight.

"?!" A surprised Kirito quickly rolled onto the floor, having no idea where Fate would strike. Behind him, a slash mark was left on the rocky plateau floor, as the girl pulled her scythe from the ground.

"I can see why you're doing well on this floor now, Fate-san." Kirito grinned as he got up. "Still, you should come to town, to see if anyone can help recover your memory."

"Tell me when you've won." Fate responded, as she vanished from sight again.

_Guess I shouldn't hold back so much... _

Kirito jumped forwards this time, as Fate appeared behind his back, without looking back Kirito fired a volley of throwing picks, causing the girl to dodge backwards.

Dashing forwards, Kirito closed the distance with another [Sonic Leap], colliding his sword with the girl's scythe. Using his other hand, he slashed out at the girl, who blocked using the other end of the scythe. Pushing the rod end of the scythe, the girl stabbed out her weapon at Kirito's face, forcing him to dodge sideways.

_She's not only well-versed in the usage of skills, but also talented in actual combat. However, in terms of familiarity of the SAO system, I won't lose._

Throwing his weapon at the girl, Kirito closes in and performs a [Vertical Arc] on the girl, who dodges backwards after blocking the thrown sword. Kirito catches his sword mid-air and performs another [Sonic Leap] at the opponent, closing the distance immediately. Running out of space, the girl disappears from view and increases her distance.

Not letting her off easily, Kirito charges at the girl as she brings her scythe to the front and disappears from view. Without looking Kirito takes a step backwards and kicks the air behind him, hitting the arm of the scythe before the girl can swing her weapon. The girl jumps back as a result of the kick and disappears once again.

This time, Kirito charges forward and intercepts the girl with his blades as she appears in diagonally in front of him. Sparks fly and the two increase their distance between them, catching their breath as they stare at the opponent.

"Surprise attacks won't work, the skill only triggers in straight lines. All I have to do is observer your pre-attack motion, and I'll be able to predict where you will appear. If you're careless with that skill you'll get yourself in trouble." Kirito grinned as he looked the girl, "Now, show me your real skills, you were holding back weren't you."

For once, a smile appeared on the girl's face. "I didn't expect you to notice that. I guess I took too lightly of your abilities." Loosening her left hand's grip on her scythe, she let her scythe hand to the ground.

"SystemCall: FormChange Sonic" Fate's chant surprised Kirito, who did not expect the girl to know about verbal commands. Furthermore, the FormChange skill was unfamiliar to him, but he quickly realized what the skill was.

The armor shards protecting the girl's shoulders, torso, as well as knees and elbow disappeared, and her scale boots were replaced with something that was much lighter.

"An upgraded quickchange feature, that's handy. I hope you don't plan to fight mobs with this form though, one hit and you'll be in danger of dying." Kirito said. "Though in a duel your speed advantage is lethal."

"It's all for the sake of winning." Fate quietly announced, a fire brewing in her crimson eyes. "Let's go"

Watching the girl disappear again, Kirito slashed forwards at the place he expected Fate to reappear, but he slashed nothing but thin air. Shocked, Kirito instinctively dived forwards as he heard a sound from behind him, barely in time to avoid the horizontal slash that came from behind.

_A double burst move? That's beyond impressive, I must concentrate to be able to see through her attack._

Kirito quickly rolled and jumped forwards to clear the distance, and as he felt another chill down his back he dashed sideways.

_The limitation to the move is the fact that the approach is linear. She must be using the pillars, changing her direction as she performs two bursts in succession. I must somehow decrease my blindspots... I know!_

Dashing forward, Kirito performed a sprint of his own, though slightly slower than his rival. Dodging the scythe attack, Kirito dove forwards and pushed to the side, sliding sideways as the scythe scraped the ground where he was at. Finally reaching one of the pillars, Kirito swung his blades as he turned around, putting his back to the pillar.

"Well, at least this way you can't get behind me now." Kirito sighed, "I take back what I said about being able to read your moves. Now it's my turn..."

The girl responded by disappearing once again, and Kirito closed his eyes instead of moving. Noticing a sound on his right, the sound of something jumping off the pillar behind him, he opened his eyes, dashing as he swung his sword, which clashed with the scythe that was a mere centimeters from hitting him.

Using his strength advantage, he pushed the girl backwards into the pillar, as she struggled to push his sword away. At this point both parties were close to reaching 50% due to the chipping of each other's HP bar. The next strike would like determine the outcome.

"Looks like the match is mine." Kirito grinned as he applied more force. "Will you accept my help now?"

"Indeed, you have the upper hand." The girl strained as she uttered, "However..."

Kirito felt the girl push with all his might, and suddenly the girl let go of her scythe and vanished. Kirito lost his balance as he started falling into the pillar, and his swords crashes into the stone.

"SystemCall FormChange Zamber" The girl's voice came directly behind, Kirito quickly turned around with both swords held up.

In mid-air, a large jet-black great-sword had appeared in the girls hands. As she plummeted to the ground along with the sword, Fate performed a front flip and whirled the sword over her body.

_Should I dodge it? No, I'm going to take her attack head on!_

Kirito roared as he lowered both blades, and drew both upwards in an uppercut. By staggering the two moves, both blades glowed as the [Uppercut] skill were recognized - an outside skill that was unique to Kirito.

The resulting shockwave shook the entire area and maybe the entire floor. The plateau floor cracked at the impact, and dust blew in all directions.

Kirito looked at the purple message that popped up and sighed, he knew of the consequences but he decided to take the challenge. Though now it meant that his first duel resulted in a loss.

"Guess I lost..." Kirito admitted his defeat, "I'll stop bothering you now."

"Why did you not dodge?" The girl asked, the tension all gone from her voice.

"Well, I don't know. I suppose I just didn't want to back off from a challenge of strength..." Kirito laughed, as he pulled a potion from his pouch. "Here, your winnings."

Fate caught the potion, and looked at the bottle.

"Just tap the bottle and put it to your mouth, you weren't joking when you said you didn't ever get hit." Kirito said in surprise.

"I don't remember..." The girl repeated the words from earlier on.

"Oh well... since I lost, I'll stop bothering you and head on my way. Please take care of yourself." Kirito brushed himself off after drinking a potion, and started walking back down the path.

Suddenly, the girl grabbed Kirito's wrist.

"Wait, I'll come along with you."

"I thought you didn't trust me" Kirito asked, finding it ironic that the positions had suddenly reversed.

"I sensed no malice in your sword, so it should be alright." The girl's explanation caused Kirito to scratch his head in confusion.

"Well, I guess all's well that ends well. Let me reintroduce myself - I'm Kirito, nice to meet you." Kirito regained his composure and held out his hand.

"Fate, I'll be in your care." The girl replied quietly, as she lightly shook the outstretched hand.

All of a sudden, lightning began to emit from the seven pillars, and Kirito's [Orb of Lightning] suddenly materialized and floated into the air, becoming the focus of the streaks of energy emitted from the pillars.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx

**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [19:00]

Location: [12th Floor – Polaris]

Asuna hadn't been in such an upbeat mood since she experienced her first shower, all the fatigue that she had accumulated over the last week seemed to have vanished into thin air. Sending her message to Argo, she turned around to speak to her comrades.

"Well, we did it! Argo's spreading the news that we defeated the 11th floor boss on our own, and this is sure to secure our positions for the further floor raids." Asuna announced proudly.

"That's great, at least we won't have to hear that idiot putting us down anymore." Lisbeth grinned, "So, are you planning to beat that guy to a pulp? Or should we just get him to give us a groveling apology?"

"Well... I don't know..." Asuna made a gesture of thinking, then quickly answered. "How about we do both?"

The group erupted into laughter at the comment, as they walked into the city of [Polaris].

The 12th floor was a stark contrast to the barren lands of the 11th, having a landscape filled with plains of snow and rolling hills. Polaris city was also a huge contrast to the small town of Taft, being the largest establishment after [Starting City], with a cityscape that was bigger than the elven palaces on the 10th floor.

Walking down the stone-laden streets of Polaris, the players enjoyed the tranquil and serene environment of the city. The winter breeze was only slightly chilling within the city walls, and the sky was filled with stars.

"Wow... so pretty..." Silica exclaimed, as she walked down the streets looking at the sky.

"Really... I'm sure lots of people will enjoy this city once they come here, especially next week." Lisbeth commented. At that point the ears of several males lifted up.

"Come to think of it... next week is Christmas isn't it? What plans to you ladies have?" Klein acted as the representative.

"Not sure right now... but one thing for sure, and that is we're not going on a date with you." Lisbeth's lashing instantly destroyed Klein's morale, as he collapsed on his knees.

Laughter erupted again, as a light snow fell to the floors.

As Asuna walked down the streets, she noticed that Leafa had not followed the group, turning back, she saw her looking at the sky.

"What's wrong?" Asuna asked.

"Nothing... just thinking about someone... that may be under the same sky..." Leafa replied.

"Your boyfriend? Hopefully he's not under the same sky, that would mean he's stuck in SAO." Lisbeth joined the two girls along with Silica.

"No..." Leafa answered, "But still someone that is dear to me..."

"Talking someone under the same sky... which one of you is going to ask Kirito out on Christmas Eve?" Klein's voice suddenly appeared at the most inopportune time, sending the girls into a state of silence.

"Uh... Klein-san... I guess we should get out of here..." Keita, who was trying to pull Klein back, gulped as he pulled his arm.

"That's why I said..." A dark haze suddenly encompassed Asuna as she walked towards the two guys, as she lifted her glowing fist... "You guys are the WORST!"

In the sky, two new stars appeared...

(_Author's Note: Poor Keita, staying with my assigned gag-player is not a good idea._)

Standing to the side, Sachi held her hands together in front of her chest, "I hope Kirito-san comes back soon."

**Author End Notes:**

Finally... my crossover character has made her entrance to the SAO AU. As to why I decided to rip the character from another series, well it's because of the fact that one of my OC's were WAYY too similar in just about everything... probably because I based my OC on her character... in the end I just decided to ploxhax her character into the SAO AU... lol.

Don't worry, almost all other elements will stay SAO based, so just think of Fate-chan as a scythe-wielding girl that lost her memories.

Not much happening on the other front so far (apart from the fact that another floor has been opened) ... I'm deciding whether I want Kibaou whipped off stage or on stage... LOL

Expect to be on this floor for a while, the first event quest is about to begin!

**Cheat Notes:**

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 7th)

Surviving Players: 9428 (+? players)

**Characters:**

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

Kirito 29

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 26

L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15

[Bullish Shield+9]

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 27

L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9

[Boots of the Hornet]

Silica 27

L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9

Lisbeth 26

L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8

Argo 23

Klein 27

L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9

Agil 27

L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9

[Taurus Backshield+5]

Sachi 24

L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9

[Kiteshield]

Keita - 23

Tetsuo - 22

Ducker - 22

Sasamaru - 22

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-24

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 25

Other DDA 16-23

/Diabel - 25

/Thinker - 23

/Coper - 23

/Kibaou - 22

Other ALF 16-23

Heathcliff - 27

Godfree - 25

Daizan (non-combat) - 16

Other KoB

/Aki - 25

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	58. This Time of the Year

**This Time of the Year**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**Nerd Facts:**

**I've just saw I had 65535 views, and the nerd inside me decided that this is worth a quick mention. yay... ( orz... I have no life)**

**Q&A:**

**Not much this chapter. For those wondering though, I don't plan to have Fate join the clearing group as a regular (for now)... she'd probably be way too OP...**

**Notes:**

**Anyone has a 'Sword Skill List' for SAO: Infinity Moment? I want to include those as a reference, but my moonspeak sucks **

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [20:00]

Location: [12th Floor – Polaris]

**"Dear Brave Adventurers - Welcome to Polaris!" Asuna proudly announced, as the celebrations for the floor opening began. Within the crowds an uproar of cheering erupted, in part due to the fact that the ceremony was led by Asuna, whose name had entered the ears of just about every player in Aincrad.**

**Behind Asuna, the group of people standing showed a variety of expressions. Klein's guild led the way in uplifted spirits, as their beaming smiles reflected their inner thoughts, glad and proud to be a part of the clearing effort. To their left, Keita and the Black Cats smile nervously, being unused to the spotlight. In contrast, Heathcliff stood with a stoic expression, ignoring his partner Godfree's victory dance.**

**As Asuna finished her opening speech, Lisbeth walked up the makeshift stage, and continued the ceremony.**

**"We understand that you may be eager to head out and explore this floor, but we advise all players to remain inside the city until morning. As you know, there are many things that can be explored at each floor clearing, and we recommend you spend the first night familiarizing yourself with the city." Lisbeth cautioned the players, as she materialized a piece of cloth and held it out with Leafa and Silica's help.**

**"This is our initial mapping of this city, and as you can see it is much larger than the cities on previous floors. We ask each of you to explore the various areas of the city, and if possible share the information with the brokers. Most brokers will be willing to pay you for your efforts. Now, onto the most important thing..."**

**Leafa took her sword, still sheathed in the scabbard, and pointed to a location on the map.**

**"If you travel to this location, you will find a shop selling potions and supplies. We have discovered a new item on this floor, one that will greatly increase our chances of survival."**

**At this point, all the players fell silent. It was hardly surprising, considering how living was the ultimate priority of all players trapped in SAO. Lisbeth manipulated her menu, and materialized a pink crystal, holding it in the air.**

**"This item here is a [Healing Crystal], and it is the first ****_magical_**** item that we have encountered in SAO. According to those who have participated in the beta test, these items will be of paramount importance, as they provide ****_instantaneous effects_****. In layman's terms, this crystal here is capable of fully replenishing a player's HP in an instant."**

**A wave of murmuring started in the crowd, players unable to contain their excitement. Lisbeth spotted some players had already sneaked away, heading to the store that sold the crystals. Grinning, she continued.**

**"There are several things to remember about these crystals though. First, these crystals are VERY EXPENSIVE, so they should always be saved as a last resort. Secondly, we have found that crystals are level restricted, in this case, the crystal that I am currently holding can only heal players level 29 and under. Thirdly, and most importantly, despite being instantaneous in effect, these crystals require activation, and there is a short duration where the player activating the crystal is vulnerable to attacks. There may also be more secrets in these magical items, so please to not get careless." Lisbeth warned, then exchanged spots with Silica.**

**"Uh... we will be providing information to everyone via the information network brokers soon, including the city map. You should be able to pick up the updated 'SAO guide' by noon tomorrow. Also, we wish to hold a meeting with everyone tomorrow at noon, at the town arena, we look forward to seeing everybody there. Good luck, and enjoy your stay at Polaris..." Silica quickly recited her portion, then quickly backed away from the crowd who were looking at her with curious eyes.**

**As soon as the ceremony ended, many players left the town portal area instead of staying for the celebrations, most heading towards the potions shop. Asuna noticed amongst the crowd a certain spiky hairdo, and called out.**

**"Wait a moment, Kibaou-****_san_****, where do you think you're going?" Asuna's forceful shout stopped the man in his tracks.**

**"What's it this time? I'm busy unlike you ya know." The man answered in his Kansai-dialect.**

**"Oh, in that case I'm sure you've forgotten that agreement you've made this morning." Asuna smiled as he approached the man, whose eyes showed both rage and nervousness.**

**Just as Asuna was about to open her menu to initiate a duel, a blue-haired man - the 'self proclaimed knight' Diabel, greeted the two.**

**"Congratulations, Asuna-san. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out that your group was successful in defeating the boss." Diabel stepped in between Kibaou and Asuna, as he gave his congratulations.**

**Asuna looked over Diabel's shoulder, and as expected both the leaders for ALF and DDA were approaching her. Dropping her aggressive stance, she smiled at the two players. "So as per our agreement, you will be granting us two parties worth of spots every floor boss raid from now on?"**

**"Yes, Lynd-san and I have discussed the issue. Furthermore, from here onwards, we will take turns in leading the collective raid against the floor boss. Obviously, the participating members will be selected by our own group, but once selected all members in the group raid will obey the commanding player for the duration of the raid." Thinker explained.**

**"Furthermore, for every floor raid, we will provide all information gathered about the boss through floor quests. Nothing will be held secret, and obviously you would do the same. This will ensure absolute equality of information, and will keep everything fair. Obviously, whoever gets the LA on the boss keeps the bonus item, although I'm sure you're well aware of that." Lynd added.**

**"Sounds reasonable. I think you're forgetting one thing though..." Asuna looked at the two leaders, who shrugged their shoulders and sighed.**

**"Remind me not to get on your bad side." Lynd quickly remarked.**

**"Yes, we have also decided to accept your request to duel Kibaou. However, we do not want the public to view it as a form of punishment." Thinker paused, "After talking to Lynd-san, we have decided to host tournament between players to test their skills. Incidentally , your opening of this city has set the ideal stage for this tournament."**

**Receiving the piece or parchment that Thinker passed to her, Asuna looked over the arrangements of the tournament. It was planned to be an entertainment event geared towards players that were eager to test their abilities, as well as viewers that wanted to relieve the stress of being stuck in the game. More importantly, it would put the current power balance of players into the open. **

**Asuna nodded as she understood the implication, the fact that Asuna's group needed to prove their strength to two main guilds, and for all the players to have hope in the clearing group. The tournament was an ideal way of achieving both objectives.**

**"I see why you are the leader of the ALF now, the arrangements are very well prepared. However, you may be surprised at the results. I'll see you tomorrow at the meeting then?" Asuna grinned at Thinker, then looked at Kibaou. "Be glad that your leader bailed you out yet again, you'd better sharpen your sword if you don't want to be made a fool in front of all the players in Aincrad."**

**Kibaou glared at Asuna then at Thinker, clenching his fists in both fury and embarrassment. He then turned around, then followed Diabel, Thinker and Lynd as they disappeared down the streets.**

**Finishing her conversation, Asuna rejoined her group which had started discussing their plans.**

**"Ah, Asuna, perfect timing. Leafa-san was asking whether you wanted to go explore the outskirts of the town quickly before we call it a day." Silica greeted Asuna as she returned to the group.**

**"Klein's group and Keita's group decided to call it a day. So it'll be just the four of us, maybe five if I can get in touch with Argo." Lisbeth added.**

**"How about Heathcliff?" Asuna asked, noting the absence of the two men.**

**"I'm not sure, haven't seen them since the end of the ceremony. Then again, the two of them seemed a little bit odd to begin with." Lisbeth pondered.**

**"True. How about we head to update our equipment first, then we'll meet Argo at the front gate?" Asuna's suggestion was quickly accepted, and the four girls walked down the streets towards the commerce area.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **

**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [20:00]

Location: [7th Floor – Septum Tavern]

**"So you're telling me that 10,000 players have been trapped in this world called SAO, and that we cannot escape until someone defeats the boss of the 100th floor of this floating castle called Aincrad?" The blonde girl summarized Kirito's explanation, as she put down her cup of tea.**

**"That's pretty much the gist of it. I'm sorry that I can't give you any more details, whether it's about the game itself or our own bodies in reality. All I can tell you is this - we're still living, and we need to fight to survive." Kirito said, as he refilled the teacups with fresh tea from the pot.**

**"I suppose you haven't met anyone with memory loss either then..." Fate replied as she added sugar and milk to her tea. Kirito frowned as he watched the girl mix the green tea.**

**"Just out of curiosity, but did your tea drinking habits come from your memory? Or did you just randomly decide to mix those ingredients together?" Coming from a traditional family, mixing sugar and milk with green tea seemed awkward for Kirito.**

**"Now that you remind me, this seems to have been a habit that I developed. I must have learnt it from my mother...? No... it wasn't... ! It was from my foster mother, I remember now!" Fate's response was quiet, but it wasn't able to hide her excited expression.**

Kirito did not know whether to be glad for the fact that his companion had recalled some of her memories, or worried that she was developing weird habits. Deciding to put it all to the side (some things are better unsaid.)

"Well, they say the best way to deal with memory loss is to try to stimulate the memory by visiting places you've been to. Unfortunately that does not seem possible at this point, but perhaps if we head to [Starting City], someone may recognize you." Kirito suggested.

_Which brings me to my dilemma, whether I should use the corridor crystal to leave this floor? I suppose I could come back later… why do I keep shooting myself in the foot. _Kirito hesitated for a moment, but his good nature quickly helped him make his decision.

"Well if you're ready, we can use this special crystal to transfer ourselves back to [Starting City], that way you can start looking for people you might know." Kirito materialized the corridor crystal, and waited the for confirmation of the other party.

**Surprising, Fate shook her head slowly, rejecting Kirito's offer. Instead, she took another sip of her milk green tea, "I have a feeling that I will not meet them at [Starting City]... the people that I seek are not those that would sit and wait for a rescue... at least that's what my instincts are telling me."**

**Kirito pondered for a while, but quickly came to agreement. The girl that sat in front of her was powerful beyond all expectation, and those who were her comrades would likely be just as strong.**

**_Perhaps we should be heading back to the front lines instead? In that case, maybe we can take another approach. _****Kirito thought, as he played with the corridor crystal in his hands.**

**"In that case Fate-san, would you rather head to the front lines, where you will be able to meet the strongest players in the game? There is a chance that your friends are fighting along with everyone else to liberate the players from this game." Kirito quickly explained his reasoning to the girl, who nodded as she listened.**

**"Would it be an inconvenience for you?" Fate's question took Kirito by surprise, as he hadn't thought about his original plans until now. **

**"Well, I was planning on exploring this floor a little more... but it doesn't matter now, I just had a change of plans. Besides, once we've found your friends I'll come back down here." Kirito quickly replied so that Fate would not be able to read his thoughts.**

**"Kirito-san, I was thinking instead of using your crystal to teleport to the front lines, we could travel there via conventional means. From what you have told me earlier, learning to fight in a group setting is very important, and I would like some time to get used to it." Apparently Fate somehow realized Kirito's hesitation to use the crystal, and offered to walk back to the upper floors.**

**"Thanks, well in that case, we might as well head off. Let shop around the town's NPC shops first, oh NPC stands for non-player character - basically computer AI programs that are created for a set purpose such as selling items." Kirito suddenly paused as if he remembered something.**

**"Come to think of it, I never got a chance to ask, but do you mind showing me your gauntlets?" Kirito asked Fate, as he recalled the event that occurred at the end of the duel.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**"Just as I thought" Kirito muttered as he finally was able to open Fate's equipment dialogue for the gauntlets. While Fate apparently knew how to manipulate her menus, she was not familiar with anything other than the basic operation.**

**After first teaching Fate through demonstrating with his own menus, Kirito was able to teach Fate to set her menus as 'visible by others', and was finally able to go to her equipment menu and open the gauntlets that he was interested in.**

**"Remember that ball of lightning that appeared and then encompassed you? That item was my [Orb of Lightning], and apparently it somehow combined with your gauntlets." Kirito explained to Fate, as he observed the menu of the item.**

**"I was told that the orbs seek their partners, so I guess the orb is yours from now on. Just tell me if you feel anything is wrong with your body, I don't know if there are side effects."**

**Fate held up her hands and looked at her gauntlets, noting that the triangle emblem on the back of her hand was now emitting a yellow glow, as well as giving off a nostalgic warmth.**

**"No, it feels absolutely fine. Actually, somehow if feels warm, as if I've been reunited with something that I had lost." Fate replied after a short pause.**

**"Well, that's good, I didn't feel anything odd when I first received my orbs, so I suppose each orb has its own properties." Kirito let out a sigh of relief, to which Fate let out a small chuckle.**

**"Kirito-san really likes to worry about others don't you?" Fate let out a small smile as she remarked. Kirito was taken aback at her comment, and turned his face away in embarrassment.**

**"Uh... I guess it's a habit I've gotten since I started in this world." Kirito muttered.**

**"Just as I thought, Kirito-san is a gentle person. People like you tend to get in a lot of trouble though." Fate said as she got up from her seat. "Oh, and are you sure you don't want me to give the orb back to you?"**

**"The orb belongs to you now," Kirito replied as he regained his composure, "I was told to hold onto it until its rightful owner was found, and apparently the rightful owner is you. We'll test its effects tomorrow, but for now let's finish our purchases at the shops and grab some sleep."**

**Walking out of the diner's, the two players walk down the streets to re-equip their supplies.**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx**

**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [21:30]

Location: [1st Floor – Starting City - Black Iron Castle]

"THINKER! What is the meaning of this?" Kibaou grabbed Thinker's collar, as he roared in rage.

"It is precisely what you think it is." Thinker replied calmly as Diabel separated a furious Kibaou from the guild leader. "You made a bet with the girl, and she won. I can't shield you from a promise you made, otherwise the players will view us negatively. All I can do is give you a level playing field, where you won't be in danger of dying."

"Besides, with this we can also gauge the strongest players within their group, as well as the DDA. Naturally, we will have to send out our best players as well, so be glad that you've already been chosen to participate." Diabel added.

"Doesn't mean you have to sacrifice me by pitting me against that woman." Kibaou complained loudly.

"So it boils down to the fact that you're afraid to face her?" Thinker asked, to which Kibaou spat on the ground.

"Like hell I am, I just think it's stupid for you to pit me against her." Kibaou's uncertainty betrayed his rebuttal.

"Unfortunately there's nothing we can do, since it affects our creditability. However, we'll try to... keep you alive to say... we don't want to lose one of our strongest because he made a stupid bet he ended up losing. Dismissed" Thinker's reassurance angered Kibaou even more, and he turned around fuming as he walked out.

"Was it such a good idea to anger Kibaou so much?" Diabel asked, to which Thinker sighed.

"It can't be helped, he's too arrogant for his own good. If he doesn't learn from his mistakes, we'll all pay for it..."

Diabel shook his head, as he looked at the doorway, then turning back to his leader.

"So apart from Kibaou and myself, who else are you planning to send?"

"I don't plan on sending anyone, however I am confident that there are many within our ranks that would be interested in taking part in the tournament. So far I have received a request from the following." Thinker replied, as he showed Diabel a list.

"Hmm... Ark, Coper, Dean, Daichi, Egor, Hertz, Johnny, Lancel, Morisaki..." Diabel started reciting the list of names, "Tenshin, Vicktor, Yunda, Ziggor... that's quite a list. So how are we going to handle so many people?"

"We'll be splitting the players into groups, then taking the best two into the tournaments... sort of like how the seeding system works in sports. I have spoken to Lynd, and they find the arrangement to be a good idea as well, especially since it will also help us raise funds for both guilds. Maybe even a prize for the tournament winner."

"Wait," Diabel interrupted, "what do you mean funds? We're planning to sell tickets for the tournament?"

"Yes, this is in order to for us to provide equipment to our newer members. The remaining funds will also be used to support the players back in [Starting City]. Believe it or not, that was my original intention of starting this guild, even though our goal is also to clear the floors and liberate everyone from Aincrad." Thinker revealed to Diabel.

"I never even knew, guess I'm still far from being able to match you in terms of planning." Diabel sighed.

"I could say the same about your clout, your natural tendency to appeal to people is something that I can't emulate even if I tried. I'm glad you're working with us and not another guild." Thinker smiled as he spoke.

"The next thing we need to do is to secure our fighters in the top ranks. It won't be easy, as the DDA will be sending their best. Though it will be a good chance to see their rumored 'Double Dragons', the pair of pseudo-dual-wielders."

"Hopefully we'll also find some potential candidates to invite to our guild, that would help tip the power in our favor. Honestly though, the fight I'm most looking forward to is the one between Asuna-san and Kibaou." Thinker let out a small grin.

"You mean slaughter?" Diabel was quick to correct Thinker's comment.

The two leaders of the ALF shared a short laugh, as they left the meeting room and headed off for the day.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx

**[Date: December 17, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [22:00]

Location: [1st Floor – Central Arena]

"A tournament? Christmas events? _What the hell_?" A lone voice echoed within the area walls, the last words spoken in an uncommon language in SAO - English.

"There's no fun in killing without screams and death, still it might be interested to watch." The foreigner pondered quietly, as he read through the details. The tournament would start with group duals, eventually finishing in an elimination tournament.

"_Suck! _It'd be different if I had a Sword Skill powerful enough to kill in 1 hit... guess I'll skip the show... but since those clowns are concentrating on the frontline, this is the chance for me to take over this city." The man let out a laugh, as his eyes glowed red with wicked intent.

The cold wind blew through the curled hair that was neatly groomed, and the European man materialized his black poncho to cover himself as he walked into the darkness.

"_It's show time..."_

**Author End Notes:**

So finally I've reached the point where I can really call it a fanfiction. My current plan is to start expanding the list of cast, involving the characters in events that were not mentioned in the original novel.

As of right now, the tournament arc is going to start, and 4 submitted OC will be introduced here. I also have a Christmas event planned, so stay tuned.

Now, I hope nobody is wear rose colored glasses, as our mysterious poncho character is ready to start stirring things up.

Thanks for your continued support, and see you next chapter!

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 7th)

Surviving Players: 9428 (+? players)

**Characters: **

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

**Kirito 29**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop**

**Leafa 26**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 27 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**[Boots of the Hornet]**

**Silica 27**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 26**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 23**

**Klein 27**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 27**

**L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 24**

**L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[Kiteshield]**

Keita - 23

Tetsuo - 22

Ducker - 22

Sasamaru - 22

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-24

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 25

Other DDA 16-25

/Diabel - 25

/Thinker - 23

/Coper - 23

/Kibaou - 22

Other ALF 16-25

Heathcliff - 27

Godfree - 25

Daizan (non-combat) - 16

Other KoB

/Aki - 25

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	59. The (Aspiring) Musicians

**The Aspiring Musicians**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**Q&A:**

**Ark: Just coincidence, but coincidences can go a long way. ) **

**Raventus Dracoria: I look forward to it (no hurry though, I'm backlogged and still haven't had time to sort out all the submissions... [I blame Infinity Moment for that]**

**Laeveteinn: Thanks for the heads up, working on it. :)**

**Kojiro Kun: Thanks; Lancel's up next chapter (or the next). I'm upgrading him to clearer status because of his position in the ALF, do you want him to be a 'hardcore clearer' (similar to Asuna), well balanced (similar to Kirito), or completely nonchalant (uh... heathcliff)?**

A Jack Frost Guy: You really should register on , it'd be easier to PM you. BTW, don't hold your breath for the slaughter... it's not going to happen anytime soon... (Orange players need those teleport crystals... which nobody has yet... apart from a certain lucky individual...)

**zinmaster24: Maybe not PK yet... but the poncho-guy's definitely not up to any good... and there are many other 'crimes' apart from PK-ing... I haven't decided on the size of the tournament, since too many players will bog down the story... I could just skip insignificant fights though... Kibaou's not escaping his punishment though... LOL**

**Note:**

**Sorry for the delay, Infinity Moment has been taking a good chunk of my time. (Yes, I'll admit I'm addicted! Finally got Kirito's 'Dual Blades' to level 6... though "The Eclipse" was a little disappointing.**

**Still working on translating the skills, I'll have that up in Ch.2 as soon as I get my act together... (Now I have to start leveling my 1H Sword... should have done that first to get those skills in the story... Orz )**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00]

Location: [12th Floor – Polaris - Daylight Diners]

Asuna sat at her table, observing the rowdy atmosphere that was uncharacteristic of the morning, slowly drinking her tea as her companions ate their breakfast.

"Are mornings always this crowded?" Leafa asked, as she set down her green tea after taking a sip. Having just recently joined the group, she was not used to eating breakfast with companions. Back when she was soloing, often she would just grab something at the NPC and eat while on the field.

"Not usually, for the last several floors, most leveling parties would leave early in the morning to hit the fields. Usually the town isn't busy until around noon, where people return to re-equip and take a break." Lisbeth answered, recalling the best times to set up shop waiting for the players to return.

"Maybe it has something to do with the meeting today?" Silica suggested, as she picked up another mochi and put it in her mouth. Beside her Pina was munching away at a small plate of nuts, with the occasional glance at the girls.

"Or it has something to do with the rumors that are flying around... oh oops." Lisbeth stopped speaking as she noticed Asuna's expression suddenly go dark.

"I would _love_ to meet the source of this rumor... and so would my sword..." Asuna gave off an aura that Pina fleeing behind Silica's back.

"Now, now, Asuna, calm down... you know how rumors are..." Lisbeth laughed as she tried to calm her friend.

"It doesn't change the fact that I'm suddenly the centre of attention... I never even heard about a Christmas celebration, not to mention a concert... what was Argo thinking?" Asuna's expression changed from fury to anxiety, as she fidgeted with the teaspoon.

"Ah, speak of the devil! Argo-san! Here!" Silica waved to the girl who hid her whiskered face under the hood. Argo looked over at the table, and scuttled over.

"Morning all... Asuna WAIT!" Argo held out her hand before Asuna could explode at her, "I had nothing to do with those flyers, and I've already contacted the organizing party of the event. As for the rumor, it seems that it began with a small group within your fan-club, and somehow it got out of hand."

"Tell me that you've got everything fixed up..." Asuna's expression changed once again to one of infinite gratitude, only to have her hopes shattered.

"Sorry, it looks like there's little hope for you to back out now. According to my sources, more than half of the active players are looking forward to seeing you perform. It's already reached the point where people are requesting pre-ordered seats." Argo held up her hands in resignation, indicating that there was nothing else she could have done.

"What about the clearing effort? I'm not going to let myself fall behind the front lines just for some event to cheer up the players." Asuna pouted and crossed her arms.

"I've also received messages from the ALF and DDA, they have agreed to put aside the clearing until after the new years. It seems that they have decided to concentrate on the upcoming tournament also." Argo continued to deliver the bad news to Asuna.

"In that case, we'll just clear another level on our own. Let's get ready, we've got a lot of leveling to do." Asuna got up abruptly from her table, not even finishing her breakfast.

"I would advise against that, Asuna-san." A voice behind startled Asuna, who turned around to see Heathcliff, Godfree, and another man sitting at the table behind them. "The last victory was partially due to good fortune being on our side, it would be foolish to tempt our luck too often."

"Heathcliff-san, when did you?" Asuna was surprised that she didn't notice their entrance.

"I walked in shortly after Argo-san there. Anyways, you've become quite famous after yesterday, you might want to keep a low profile to avoid attention..."

Asuna looked around, and saw that she had become the center of attention. Her face turning red, Asuna quickly sat down and finished her breakfast. The others watched Asuna finish her breakfast at an unprecedented pace, and nobody said a word as Asuna put on a hooded cape and fled the breakfast lounge.

"Well... I suppose today's a day off for us as well." Lisbeth said in resignation. "You'd better watch out too Leafa, you're probably the next victim."

"How come?" Leafa asked innocently.

"Because Leafa-san is also really cool and pretty." Silica answered for Lisbeth, who grinned at the young dragon-tamer.

"Silica-chan also has your own market you know..." Lisbeth's comment made Silica jump.

"I... I... wa..." Silica was unable to formulate a reply, as she shrank into her chair.

"Hahaha... anyways let's get going as well, we'll meet at the arena at lunch." Lisbeth said as the group got up and paid the bill. The three girls walked out the diners, and parted ways as each headed to a different section of town.

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00]

Location: [7th Floor – Outside Labyrinth Area]

Kirito stood with his mouth open in shock, as he watched his new leveling partner fight the mobs. Without utilizing any skills, Fate was engaging the mobs in close combat, pushing the concept of minimal sidestep to the extremes.

Having been taught kendo by his grandfather's Spartan live-or-die philosophy, Kirito fully understood the amount of training needed to achieve such reflexes of mind. Cold sweat formed in Kirito's hand as he watched.

_This is absurd! I can't even imagine what kind of life this girl was living, it is almost as though everyday was a battlefield for her. Either that, or she must have fought devils in her past._

"Kirito-san, switch!" Fate called to Kirito as she swung her scythe upwards, knocking the enemy backwards. Kirito barely reacted quickly enough, launching into a [Sonic Leap] and allowing Fate to switch out.

Fifteen minutes later, Kirito sat down on the floor eating another [Fruity Jam Bagel] for breakfast, while Fate slowly bit into the bread as if savoring the taste.

"Guess you've never tasted this bread either?" Kirito asked, and was met with silent nodding as Fate finished the bagel made from the 1 col [Black Bread].

"Now that we're done breakfast, there's another thing that's really bugging me, that I must ask you..." Kirito turned to Fate and put on a serious expression, "How come you don't ever use [Sword Skills] apart from your dash?"

"Dash?" Fate asked, "Oh, you mean [Sonic Move]? That's the best way to get behind the monsters."

"How about other skills? Don't you have other [Sword Skills]?" Kirito's voice seemed to be more urgent, as his stress and curiosity continued to build.

"What are sword skills?" Fate's reply made Kirito collapse on all fours.

_I can't believe that's the reason, so she doesn't know what sword skills are?! This could take a while... _Kirito thought as he got back up to explain the basics of sword skills in SAO.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30]

Location: [12th Floor – Polaris - Commerce District]

Silica walked down the unpopulated street down in the less frequented area of the commerce district, cautiously making sure that she was not being followed. While there was no danger within city boundaries, she had made it a habit to keep an eye on anything that would affect her safety.

Turning around the corner, Silica found her target – a shop with a gallery lined with musical instruments. She had learned from Argo earlier that a variety of new shops were available at this floor, offering players different means to obtaining experience. This would change the monotonous routine of leveling, and would potentially change the way players spend their time in SAO.

Walking in the door, Silica was greeted the sight of a large piano – a concert grand bearing the marking 'St*inway and Sons'. The keys were covered in ivory, and were encased in a solid ebony framework.

Silica gave the large piano a quick glance, and then walked by the store's centerpiece towards the wall lined with wind instruments. A middle-aged woman – likely the store's NPC, approached the girl and offered her help.

"Welcome to Polaris Music, how may I help you?" The NPC offered the standard greeting, to which Silica pointed at the wall of woodwinds.

"I'm looking to buy a flute, do you have any recommendations?" Silica asked, her parents had offered for her to start flute lessons once she entered junior high, and she was looking forward to owning her own instrument. Being trapped in SAO would obviously delay her plans, but it looked like her dreams would not be completely dashed.

"Currently our store has inventory of several flutes in the Jup*ter, and Yam*ha brands. If you seek other brands, we also offer Am*dues, Az*mi, and Gem*inhardt flutes, but you will have to head to our other location." The NPC motioned her hand, and several menus appeared in front of Silica.

Reading the list of instruments available, Silica was astounded by the price range. While the lowest two tiers were still within her price range, the higher tiers were priced at over a hundred thousand col. There were even flutes priced over a million.

"Ah… is there anything you can recommend for 50,000 col?" Silica asked, while she was active on the front lines, she was not able to save up too much – having spent most of her money on equipment upgrades as well as restorative items. Besides, spending too much on a non-combat item didn't feel right, especially since she was an active front-line player.

"I would recommend this Yama*a, it is a great top-tier beginner's item, and if you include the B-foot the price will be at 50,000 col." The NPC materialized a flute in her hands, and put the instrument to her mouth.

A energetic tune echoed in the store, as the NPC demonstrated with 'Flight of the Bumblebee' – a common song played by many at the intermediate level. Silica looked at the NPC, mesmerized by her playing, and Pina circled the two in midair.

"Later on, if you wish, you can add a Foster extension, which will allow you to reach the higher levels of musicianship. Alternatively, you can also switch to another instrument. Do you wish to purchase this flute?" The NPC asked Silica, as a popup materialized in front of the counter.

Silica hesitated for a moment, wondering whether she should spend a little more on a better instrument, but came to her senses as she pressed the 'YES' button. She didn't even know how to play in real life, so any instrument was a good start for her – even in the virtual world of SAO.

Watching the NPC turn exit the store front to 'get a new flute', Silica turned to observe the opposite wall which was lined with stringed instruments. She had originally wanted to play the Cello, but her family convinced her to an instrument that was more portable.

_Maybe I should get one of these instead… _Silica thought to herself, as she gazed at the instruments.

"It's a lovely display isn't it?" A female voice brought Silica back into reality, as she turned around to face the player that had appeared behind her.

"Ah, hello, sorry but I didn't notice you coming in." Silica apologized habitually, looking up towards the taller player.

"Don't worry, I hope I didn't scare you there." The player replied, as she greeted Silica with a smile. "It's quite uncommon to see other girls here in the upper floors, I suppose the news spread quickly. So did you come here to visit this city, it's pretty nice isn't it?"

Silica looked at the older girl that was probably in her mid teens, with long red hair that reached her ankles. The girl's light armor matched her hair color, and at her waist she donned a silver sheath that held her sword.

"I'm OK, I think I was just distracted looking at the instruments, I'm sorry if I got in your way." Silica spoke timidly, as she was still reserved around people who were older than her.

"I hope I'm not scaring you." the girl let out a small chuckle, as she observed Silica. "Normally I'd ask if you got separated from your parents or something, but I suppose in this world it's not the most appropriate thing to say. Anyways, my name's Éclair, nice to meet you."

"Uh.. I'm Silica, nice to meet you too." Reaching out to shake the outstretched hand, Silica relaxed her shoulders and introduced herself.

"I suppose you're here because you heard the news about the new jobs on this floor. I was really excited as well when I heard the news, and when I found out that there was a music shop here I almost dashed full speed… well, almost… once I finished taking out the mobs in the dungeon." Éclair's eyes were glowing with excitement while she spoke, as she looked at the instruments displayed on the wall.

"Oh my god! I can't believe they even have Stradivarius violins here as well. I'd kill to be able to hold one even once!" The girl exclaimed in excitement. "This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. Yup, I think I've found my _raison d'être_ in this game."

"Raison d'être? What is that?" Silica asked, the combination of katakana was not of something that she understood.

"Oh, sorry, that was a French phrase for 'meaning of existing', 存在の意味." Éclair quickly explained, "Sorry, I have a bad habit of using odd vocabulary when I'm excited."

Éclair's remark brought a smile to Silica's face, as she looked at the fortified display case holding the violin.

"So Éclair-san is planning to get a violin?" Silica asked.

"Yup, though there's no way that I can afford that one for now." Éclair responded with slight disappointment in her voice, "One day though I'll be able afford the price tag, if I try hard enough. So how about you Silica-chan, are you here to buy an instrument as well? The beginner's instruments are pretty cheap, and it should be easy to save up for one."

"Actually, I just bought myself a beginner flute. It was supposed to be my parents' gift for me when I entered junior high school, but I suppose everything has changed since." Silica tried to remain calm, but a sudden wave of sadness caused her voice to tremble.

Éclair put her hand on top of Silica's head, and smiled gently at her. "Don't worry; we'll escape this game alive. I'm sure of it…"

Silica nodded at the girl that was comforting her and smiled, Éclair's eyes had a gentleness in them that was similar to the others that accompanied her throughout the two months, and it helped ward off that uneasiness that had crept into her mind.

"Excuse me dear customer, but your instrument is ready." The NPC's voice reminded Silica that she had yet to take the instrument. As if receiving her first toy, Silica skipped over to the counter and took possession of the instrument as Éclair followed slowly.

"Come to think of it, you must have worked hard and saved up quite a bit during your two months." Éclair suddenly commented, "With the system's daily col allowance for players, you must have saved over 90% of your income in order to buy that instrument. I'm impressed how you're so disciplined at such a young age."

At this point, Silica came to the realization that Éclair probably thought of her as one of the children in [Starting City]. It was likely that Éclair arrived at the 12th floor in the morning, and missed yesterday's ceremony which she took part in.

"Actually, it's because I have a party that I level with, and plus I have Pina." As if on Silica's mention, the blue dragon left its perching spot and landed on Silica's shoulder, to the surprise of Éclair.

"Unbelievable! You have yourself a pet monster? I've heard rumors of 'tamers', but this is the first time I've seen a tamed monster. I was thinking of becoming a wolf tamer once, but I accidently killed the wolf when it jumped towards me." Éclair's voice was once again full of excitement.

"I'm not too sure how I tamed Pina either, but somehow it took a liking to me and so we've been together ever since." Silica told Éclair about her encounter with Pina, as the dragon fell asleep on Silica's shoulder.

Shortly afterwards, Éclair had purchased a beginner violin from the NPC, sighing as she paid 30,000 col for a beginner Yama*a. Holding the violin, she breathed another sigh.

"Maybe I should have gotten a Karl Joseph Schneider, or maybe trying out a Hofn*r. Oh well, a Yama*a's cheap and it does the trick, I'll upgrade once I master the musical instrument skill. Besides, I can't afford that much money on something that doesn't help in combat."

_At least I'm not the only one that thinks that way. _Silica silently thought as she watched Éclair put her violin away, and at the same time another girl walked through the doors of the store.

"Say, Silica-chan, would you be interested in playing together some time? It's not often that we meet other players that play instruments, so how about we meet once in a while to play as a group." Éclair suddenly asked.

Silica thought about the proposal, it was a good idea, since it would be a clear goal and give her incentive to play. At the same time she was not sure whether she would be able to practice regularly, with the regularly leveling that she needed to do.

"Pardon me for interrupting, but I overheard that you two were interesting in playing instruments together. Would you happen to be interested in forming a band and playing at the Christmas concert?" The girl that just entered the shop asked a question that send Silica and Éclair into shock.

"A concert? I.. I'm nowhere near good enough for that…" Silica stuttered her reply. Beside her, Éclair paused as she thought about the issue.

"It's alright, most of us are new to instruments as well. Besides, chances are that our music will be pre-programmed, it'll probably be similar to playing a video game. It'll be fun, I promise!" The new girl looked at Silica and Éclair, smiling as she explained her proposal.

"Seems like a good idea. Count me in, but keep in mind that I might not be able to spend too much time rehearsing, since I'm active at the front lines." Éclair quickly made up her mind and decided to join.

"If you don't mind my inexperience, I'd be glad to participate." Following Éclair's lead, Silica also made up her mind to participate.

"Don't worry about time, the rest of our group have lots of it. So whenever you're ready, just sent us a message and we'll be waiting for you at [Starting City]. Oh, and I'm sorry that I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Mika, employee at the Lovely Fruit Café, and leader of the guild [Otome Alliance]. If you enjoy hanging out with us, you're always welcome to join our guild." Mika announced in a cheerful voice.

"I'm Éclair, aspiring clearer, and aspiring violin player. Nice to meet you!" Éclair's joyful voice matched Mika's.

"I'm Silica, and this is Pina. Please take care of us." Silica bowed as she introduced herself to Mika, who seemed to react when she heard Silica's name.

"That's a really cute pet you have there, Silica-chan." Mika smiled as she reached her hand out to Pina, who brushed her head on Mika's palm. Silica thought she saw Mika's lips say 'Dragon Tamer' silently, but decided that it was her imagination.

"So Mika, do you know about the Christmas celebration event? I've only heard about it through the flyers that were distributed, and I never heard about invitations for the concert." Éclair turned the attention to the upcoming event.

"Well, you've come to the right person! In fact, I know the organizer for the event very well." Mika smiled as she pointed at a mirror.

"?!" Both Éclair and Silica were shocked at the revelation, and were unable to respond.

"Actually, we're having a bit of a dilemma right now. Since we originally did not plan for it to be such a large event, we ended up being severely understaffed. The biggest problem is that somehow a rumor came out saying that there was to be a concert to be held, and it's driven our guild into a corner. I wish I knew who started the rumor…" Mika laughed with embarrassment.

Silica laughed nervously, as this was not the first time she heard about the incident.

"I'm guessing your guild has already attempted to ask _her _to perform?" Éclair asked as she came to.

"Yes, and unfortunately we don't see how we can convince her. I can understand though, since we are asking one of the strongest SAO players to drop her routine and join us in practicing. Add to the fact that she's the subject of the largest fanclub in SAO, and it makes is pretty much impossible for us to get her to perform." Mika explained.

"I guess that's what celebrities are like? Always elitist and impossible to approach?" Éclair said with slight irritation in her voice.

"No, Asuna-san's not's like that." Silica spoke up in Asuna's defense.

"Silica-chan's right, though I was surprised at first also. My friend told me that Asuna was surprisingly approachable, and even offered to help. However, she vehemently refused to perform for the concert. I'll try to persuade her again later on when all the preparations are ready, but I think I won't be much more successful."

"Maybe she doesn't feel comfortable in front of an audience then?" Éclair suggested another possibility.

"Probably because she has to perform… it's probably much more difficult than giving a prep-speech before a boss battle." Silica suggested.

"I suppose so... anyways I guess we got sidetracked. Let us get back to the original topic of the event." Mika let out an intentional cough.

"Éclair-san, Silica-san, I thank you for your help, and I welcome you to the Christmas event as participants." Mika let out a gracious bow, and then started laughing alongside the two girls who had started to giggle.

"Now, all we have to do is find someone to play the drums." Mika noted.

"Mika-san, I have someone in mind, but I don't know if she would be willing to join. I'll talk to her later today and see if she's interested."

"That would be great! I'll be waiting for your good news Silica-chan. Oh! I almost forgot." Mika quickly navigated her menu, and invited the two to her friends list.

"Actually, do you two have some time right now? Would you like to come to our café for a short snack? I'll treat you two to our improved shortcake and specialty drinks?"

"As long as you have coffee and chocolate... Thanks in advance." Éclair replied instantly.

"I'd be glad to, thank you very much." Silica was equally excited in the offer.

"Well, it's decided then. Give me one minute though." Mika quickly walked to the NPC storekeeper, and navigated the shop menus. The NPC walked into the back of the store, and delivered an instrument to Mika.

"Almost forgot to introduce my part in the band - I'll be the lead guitar player." Mika winked as she materialized an electric guitar, giving the strings a quick strum. The girls looked at each other before bursting in laughter, walking into the streets towards the teleport gate.

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30]

Location: [12th Floor – Polaris - Residential District]

Lisbeth stood in shock over the amount displayed in the trade window, an amount of col that even a clearer like her would be unable to save up. She looked again to confirm the amount in the window, and then she turned to the player that initiated the trade - Lynd, the leader of the DDA.

"What's the meaning of this?" Lisbeth asked harshly, sweeping the trade window to the side.

"We have a request to ask of you," Lynd spoke confidently, "an offer that you can't refuse."

Behind Lynd, two players stepped up from behind the curved-blade user. The appearance of the two players was completely different, yet both players gave off an intimidating aura.

Lisbeth gulped as both players took a step forward at the same time, drawing a total of four blades towards Lisbeth.

**Author End Notes:**

Here's the first of the exposition / transition for the next arc, I hope I didn't bore too many people to death.

Don't hold your breath for too much action, we're taking a break from floor clearing, and trying to get the characters to live out life in SAO. With the introduction of the many new ways to level, hopefully the players can experience the other aspects of SAO.

(Come to think of it... SAO could almost be classified as a sandbox if not for the requirement to actually level to 'win' the game...)

Anyways, next chapter will focus on Lisbeth, hope she turns out OK...

As always, thanks for your continued support, and see you next chapter!

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 7th)

Surviving Players: 9428 (+? players)

**Characters: **

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

**Kirito 29**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop**

**Leafa 26**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 27 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**[Boots of the Hornet]**

**Silica 27**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 26**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 23**

**Klein 27**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 27**

**L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 24**

**L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[Kiteshield]**

Keita - 23

Tetsuo - 22

Ducker - 22

Sasamaru - 22

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-24

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 25

Other DDA 16-25

/Diabel - 25

/Thinker - 23

/Coper - 23

/Kibaou - 22

Other ALF 16-25

Heathcliff - 27

Godfree - 25

Daizan (non-combat) - 16

Other KoB

/Aki - 25

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	60. To Each Her Own

**To Each Her Own**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**EDIT: Fixed the formatting issue plaguing the last several chapters... I failed to notice that... orz**

**Q&A:**

**zinmaster24: Yup, Asuna's not going to sit around and wait for the party. I'm hoping to get some time to build on her character. (Something that the original LN lacked IMO)**

**A Jack Frost Guy: Welcome to . For the record, Yui did mention SS, but not in detail. That's why Fate is able to use 'sonic move'... in the next few chapters I'll elaborate on the reason for no scythe SS (for now).**

**Laeveteinn: I suppose the chapter feels long because it's all dialogue / description with little action... Writing in detail isn't my strength (then again, I never considered writing to be my strong suit to begin with.) I'm completely addicted to SAO:IM... Completely OP Kirito FTW! On the flip side, the grind is pretty repetitive... but not as bad as getting the support costumes for the female chars ~_~**

**Kojiro Kun: Hope Lancel's character seems OK for now... I'm classifying him as a 'cool in appearance, but with a burning heart' type of character.**

**FrostyMouse: I keep telling myself to re-read my chapters sometime, but the devil in my head always tells me "finish the next chapter first..."**

**(Worse, the devil's telling me "Clear the next floor in SAO:IM first" now...)**

**Raventus Dracoria: Sorry for disappointing you, but Kirito's not coming back for another short while. Even with Fate helping him, it's not going to be a straight path coming back to the 12****th**** floor. (Unless I get tired of having them there and plothax him to use the corridor crystal, but using the crystal would spoil another arc that I have drafted...)**

**Notes:**

**I HATE EXPOSITION! Anyways... now that that's off my mind... I hope you don't get bored of this chapter... been spending too much time on SAO:IM, and can't wait to get the characters through the floors so that more fun stuff can occur.**

**Anyways, time to address the other three girls during their time before noon. Once that's done maybe I'll get the story going again.**

**(Random musing: I just realized that my chapter length had increased ~30% from what it was when I started... no wonder it's taking me so long to type it out... Also must remember to actually be awake when I write this... not exactly easy after a tiring day of work... lol)**

**Sword Art Online: Infinity Note:**

**Stuck at 700 leveling my 1H Sword... Orz **

**On the good side, I managed to get a partial list of SS from the game... now I just have to figure out what name is which. (Got the 1H-sword less 1, as well as the dual blade ones... now to find places to add them into the fanfic.)**

**Off-topic: Shine Circular's the best spam skill EVER! LOL.**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30]

Location: [12th Floor – Polaris - Residential District]

"We have a request to ask of you," Lynd spoke confidently, "an offer that you can't refuse."

Behind Lynd, two players stepped up from behind the curved-blade user.

The player on Lynd's right seemed to be in his late teens, standing around 6 feet tall and wearing a dark blue cloak. His brown hair went down to his neck, covering his right eye and giving off an intimidating aura. Despite being relatively slender, the man gave off an overwhelming air of confidence and strength.

In contrast, the player on the left had a much more feminine look, with a smaller and slimmer frame. Under his short dark grey hair, the player's heterochromatic eyes (blue and green) gave off a mysterious feeling. If the other player were a powerful warrior, then this player would undoubtedly be the assassin.

Lisbeth gulped as both players took a step forward at the same time, drawing a total of four blades towards Lisbeth. Closing her eyes, Lisbeth brought raised her hands instinctively, attempting to block the attack.

To Lisbeth's surprise, the four swords never made contact with her body. Opening her eyes, Lisbeth saw four swords held horizontally in front of her, as if it was for her to observe the weapons.

"Please help us refine these swords to the maximum value." Lynd said, trying to hide the small grin that had appeared.

Flustered by the fact that she had been tricked, Lisbeth turned her head sideways. "What makes you think that I would help you?"

"You'll help because these two will become part of the clearing group, a group that you've been supporting throughout, that and the fact that you're the best player in terms of smithing and have been known not to reject a reasonable offer." Lynd's answer appealed to Lisbeth's pride and sense of responsibility, effectively knocking away her defenses.

"I see why you are the leader of the DDA now, very well let me examine the swords." Lisbeth gave up arguing, and glanced at the four swords.

The tall player held a pair of blades that were wider but shorter than those wielded by Kirito, and that both blades gave off a dark glow in the metal. Lisbeth opened up the menu of the item, revealing the item's name of [Reinforced Black Steel Shortsword] - 0/15.

Turning to the other player's blades, Lisbeth noted that one of the blades was also a [Reinforced Black Steel Shortsword], but the other was the [Alloy Steel Longsword] sold at the NPC's on this floor.

"I'm rather interested to know where you obtained these [Reinforced Black Steel] weapons, but I respect your privacy. I'm surprised that you're willing to pay me so much for a simple refine though, what's the catch?" Lisbeth turned to Lynd, demanding him to explain his motives.

"All I ask is for you to refine these weapons as you would refine the weapons for 'The Black Swordsman'." Lynd's reply was surprisingly simple, and yet it made Lisbeth feel very uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, but I will not reveal any information about Kirito, regardless of the price." Lisbeth rejected immediately, and turned around.

"We already know that he puts emphasis on Sharpness and Durability, so the secret's out of the bag if that's what you're worried about." Lynd's commented caused Lisbeth to turn back towards him, "What I ask is that you put the same amount of effort into the upgrading of these blades. For a lack of a better term, I suppose I'm asking you to put your heart into these blades."

Lisbeth paused as she thought about Lynd's offer, then reached out her hand.

"Very well, but I'm going to request you provide all the materials for all 60 upgrade attempts on the 4 swords. Make sure you get the items for the maximum chance, as I will not take anything inferior. Lastly, I'm not to be held responsible for any failures, so don't complain if any of these end up a +0 at the end of the upgrade."

"Of course, and we will be paying your entire fee up front right now." Lynd smiled as he opened his trade window, and sent Lisbeth his payment of 300K col, "That should also be enough for you to upgrade your smithing hammer before starting the upgrade, think of this as our trust in your abilities."

Lisbeth accepted the trade, and looked at the guild leader. "How much will you have prepared by 2pm? I suppose you'll need your best weapons to farm for refines."

"We'll have our entire guild trying out best, I will meet you at the blacksmith around 2. Before we leave, let me first introduce to my two assistants." Lynd turned to the two owners of the swords, and pointed at the taller of the two.

"This is Vendette, as you have noticed, he wields his blades with a focus on strength. Beside him is Aixen, who wields his weapons with an emphasis on speed. They are my strongest players in the DDA, and you might have heard them being referred to as the.."

"Double Dragons..." Lisbeth finished Lynd's sentence, as she nodded in realization. "Since these two are your aces, aren't you afraid that I will leak their information out?"

"Actually, I would like you to tell others about their improved weapons. Our guild philosophy is to take on the best of the best, and if our strength drives other to become stronger then we would be honored." Lynd crossed his arms and spoke confidently.

"And I suppose the reason between the two of them dual-wielding is because..." Lisbeth's stopped as the taller man stepped forward.

"We wield two blades because it is what 'The Black Swordsman' - the strongest attacker, wields. Don't get me wrong, we look up to his strength and determination, but we refuse to be forever under his shadow. Both Aixen and I have different approaches, and it will only be a matter of time before we are stronger than him." The player named Vendette spoke with confidence. Beside him the younger Aixen silently nodded his head.

"I understand now. In that case, I can guarantee that I will make you a weapon that will give Kirito a challenge if he participates in the tournament. It would be an insult if you were to be at a weapon disadvantage." Lisbeth nodded in approval.

"I take it that you will fully co-operate with us then?" Lynd asked for Lisbeth's final confirmation.

"Yes, but I need to change one term. You will prepare as many swords and refines as I require. I will not stop until each one of you has a weapon worthy of my approval." Lisbeth announced as she turned around. "Even at a 95% success rate, there's only a 46% chance that I will succeed 15 consecutive refines. In the meantime I will get myself a spare hammer, I may actually need it."

As Lisbeth walked down the street towards the weapons shop, Lynd bowed to Lisbeth's disappearing silhouette, grateful for her full cooperation. Behind him the two players held their weapons excitedly.

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30]

Location: [1st Floor - Black Iron Palace]

"So there's nothing you can do to rally the troops back to clearing the floor?" Asuna asked in a disappointed tone.

"I'm sorry Asuna-san, this issue was determined by majority vote, with a overwhelming 90% in favor of halting clearing activities until the New Years." Thinker explained to Asuna, who was less than happy at the revelation.

"I thought you guys were the Aincrad Liberation Force, didn't expect the entire guild to be taking time off." Asuna chided the man who gave an embarrassed smile.

"Unfortunately, despite our name, we're just a large group of players who don't want to rot in [Starting City]. At this point neither Diabel or I have the ability to make our members return to the front lines, as we have promised them the choice of relaxing for the time being. However, I'm sure there are those who wish to continue pushing forward, and we agree to, and will provide our support to those in the ALF that choose to fight." Thinker gave his best proposal, to which Asuna nodded silently.

"I understand. It is unfortunate that things have turned out like this... I will keep you informed as to which of your members will be joining me." Asuna concluded as she bowed, then turned around as she exited the meeting room.

As Asuna started walking down the hallway towards the exit of the palace, a young man stepped in front of her and bowed. The man wore a full plate armor on his body, and his blue eyes were visible through the open visor.

"Asuna-san, pardon my interruption. My name is Lancel, let me escort you to the teleport gate." The young man spoke politely, and Asuna sensed no ill-intent from the man. Though she did not see the point of escorting her out of ALF headquarters, she had no reason to refuse.

"Thank you, I'll accept your protection until I reach the gate then." Asuna nodded, as the man led her out of the Black Iron Palace.

It did not take long for Asuna to realize that the man had taken the roundabout route to reach the teleport gate, which had to pass through most of the areas of [Starting City]. She was about to ask the man his intention when she noticed that the city had underwent a great change.

The previous desolate streets were not shimmering with life, populated with players and NPC alike. The players that inhabited the city were no longer void of life, but acting as if they were actively trying to seek out a life within SAO.

Asuna recognized instantly that the players were still in their beginner equipment, but occasionally also noticed players that wore slightly improved armor. Occasionally a higher leveled player would also be within the mix, and it seemed like the players got along quite well.

After walking around fifteen minutes, Asuna and her escort reached the teleport gate. She sighed, and turned to his guide who led her on the detour. "I suppose you didn't lead me on the detour just to spend time with me right?"

"Pardon my rudeness; I swear by my honor that I did not have bad intentions. I just didn't want you to think poorly of Thinker-san, as he has done much for the population in Starting City. He may not be doing things the way that corresponds to your expectations, but please understand that he has nothing but the wellness of the citizens on his mind." The young man bowed again.

"... I understand. Just to clarify, I never doubted Thinker-san's character, but it still does not change the fact that the clearing process has been delayed for at least two weeks. Those two weeks could have allowed us to clear at least another floor, two if we work hard enough." Asuna's voice seemed to have lost her earlier flare, but she was still resolute in her beliefs.

"Thinker-san agreed to the proposal as he was concerned about the morale of the guild, which had hit an all time low ever since your group was able to clear the 11th floor without any assistance. We may be the largest guild in Aincrad, but individually we are not as strong as the members of your group, and many have started to lose confidence."

"In that case, Thinker or Diabel should have pushed harder, get the members to level more and become stronger." Asuna retorted naturally, if she and everyone in her group was capable of doing so, there was no reason for the largest guild to fail at leveling their members.

"Unfortunately it is not as simple as it seems, since our guild has already reached the size where it is difficult to account for each person individually. Thinker-san has already divided the ALF's operations between himself and Diabel-san, but at this point both sides are at the point where things might fall apart." Lancel explained.

"Amongst the members in our guild, half of the members are still supporting the clearing effort, but the other half has tried pushing for the guild to focus on safe leveling of its members. In the past, our main motivation was that we were the only guild capable of clearing, but in the past several weeks we have seen more and more capable groups."

Asuna nodded, as she also saw firsthand how the smaller groups were becoming stronger. The Black Cats were a prime example of a small guild that went from nothing to becoming a guild capable of taking on a floor boss, and Klein's Fuurinkazan had grown to become a clearing powerhouse.

"Lately, there have been increasing voices expressing the concern of our guild's clearing emphasis, where many felt discontent towards our insistence of clearing floors even when the risk is great. They felt we were clearing floors that were not safe for our level, and we should wait till players have accumulated a sufficient safety gap." Lancel continued.

"And I suppose that's where we came in, and proved that a smaller, higher leveled group was safer? Our group almost got wiped out when attempting to fight the floor boss." Asuna's hostility quickly returned.

"I apologize for the circumstances that led to the incident. Apparently many players within our ranks wanted to assist your group, however we ordered not to interfere." Lancel explained, "We figured that you would retreat before things got dangerous, and many of us were pleasantly surprised when the message of our victory returned."

"None of you hold hard feeling over the fact that we achieved what you couldn't?" Asuna asked, trying to find out what the ALF thought of their success.

"There are several dissidents that wish to have you removed from the clearing ranks, stating that your reckless attitude will result in a wipe. However, most players are glad that the ALF isn't the only group which drives the clearing effort. Perhaps this is the reason that we have developed a faction that wish to shift our focus to other matters." Lancel replied.

"By other matters, I suppose you mean the improving of the general player well-being?" Asuna's question was met with a nod.

"That is Thinker-san's main focus at the moment, he has delegated Diabel-san to lead in the clearing effort so that he could focus on improving the life of players that chose to avoid combat." Lancel explained Thinker's plans to improve the well-being of low-leveled players, and Asuna nodded in approval.

"Well, I suppose there's nothing I can do about that. I wish he would spare some players to continue clearing though." Asuna sighed again, resigned in the fact that many players would prefer to stay here longer as opposed to continue fighting.

"Asuna-san, as Thinker-san mentioned, there are still those who wish to continue the clearing effort. While actually raiding the boss may be problematic, surely with enough people you should be able to at least locate the next boss room." Lancel suggested.

"You sound as though you're itching to clear the floors as well... would you mind telling me your stance in the matter?" Asuna turned to the knight who looked her straight in the eyes.

"As Lancel, leader of the 2nd defense formation, I adhere to the decision of our leadership and will not be assisting in any boss raids until the New Years. By the same decision, I am also honor-bound to assist you shall you require my assistance." Lancel stood in attention as he declared.

"No... I meant your personal thoughts on the matter." Asuna was slightly surprised at Lancel's sudden behavior change, and tried to change the subject.

"Personally, I am indifferent, but I will do what my honor requires. In this case it allows me help your cause, and thus I will give my full support." Lancel's expression was a stark contrast to the words he chose.

"You seem awfully eager for someone who's 'indifferent'... anyways, I suppose it doesn't matter. I'll thank you in advance if we are able to get a scouting party together." Asuna replied.

"It will be my honor." Lancel bowed, as he watched Asuna disappear into the teleport gate. Opening his friends list, he quickly typed a message to his guild leader, as well as several other messages. Finishing up, he walked back up the streets returning to the guild headquarters.

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

Aincrad Standard Time: [9:30]

Location: [12st Floor - Polaris - Entrance]

Leafa walked slowly towards the exit of Polaris, wary of her surroundings. She had been aware of the presence that was following her since she left the cafe, but she had decided not to take action while in a heavily populated area. Walking down the path down to the leveling field outside of Polaris, she called out to her stalker.

"Argo, give it up! You caught me off-guard last time, but I won't fall for the same trick twice. You know that it almost impossible to [Hide] from my [Searching] skill, unless you're significantly higher in level." Leafa sighed as she called out to the girl under her cape.

"Nyahaha... I guess I'll use a more direct approach then." Argo bolted towards Leafa, and snuggled her face in her chest.

"Wah! STOPTHAT!" Leafa let out a small scream, as she struggled to push Argo away.

"Come on Leafa-chan, don't be so stingy, it's not like you'll get any smaller..." Argo chuckled as she continued to harass Leafa, then she let go and jumped backwards.

"Do you do that to everyone?" Leafa complained.

"No, only you... I might try that on Asuna someday... but then again I'd probably need life insurance...haha..." Argo let out a small laugh. "Anyways, I've completed the list you were asking for, though I'm surprised that you needed my help... eventually you'll get to know all the strongest players on the front lines."

"Sorry, but I can't tell you the reason yet, let's just say that I'm trying to keep a low profile for now. I'm not going to ask you for the list of beta players, as that's against the rules, but I suppose with the list I'll have somewhere to start." Leafa replied.

"Are you looking for a friend who was playing SAO as well? If so why not just have me send message to ask if anyone knows you?" Argo asked.

"Well, he doesn't know that I entered SAO, and I don't know his username." Leafa answered.

"I see, a friend in real life. A boyfriend?" Argo teased Leafa, who put on a slight blush before answering.

"No, but a family member dear to me."

"Enough to join SAO, knowing this was a game of death?" Argo's sudden question sent Leafa into shock, as she was completely caught off guard.

"I... didn't join willingly." Leafa barely managed an answer, her hesitation confirming what Argo had suspected. Argo jumped backwards, and drew her weapons.

"But you still joined after the game had started. Furthermore, you must have had some connections to the people that are either investigating the SAO case, or in worst case you're working with Kayaba." Argo spoke in threatening voice as she glared at Leafa, her weapons ready to strike at Leafa if she attempted anything.

"It wasn't my choice, it suddenly happened too fast and I lost my senses... by the time I came to I was already logged in to SAO... with these items in my inventory." Panicking, Leafa materialized several items, holding it in front of Argo.

"I suppose you aren't working with Kayaba after all, figures..." Argo let out a sigh as she put away her weapons and took the items from Leafa. "Though I had a pretty good idea the minute you gave me a copy of the guide, I needed to be sure that you weren't trying to lure everyone into a trap."

At this point Leafa realized that she just got conned by Argo, she felt weak at her knees and sat on the floor.

"Sorry, but it's my duty to verify that all the information I received, including the identity of the source of information." Argo explained. "I do apologize for the method I used, especially considering that your real identity is probably that of a younger child."

"So you found that out as well? You're right, this is actually my avatar, and in reality I'm just 13 years old." Leafa confessed, having completely given up her intent to hide things from Argo.

"I had my suspicions, but it was just now that I was able to confirm. Leafa-chan's personality conflicts with your appearances too much, especially when you deal with strangers and older people. Let's just say you're too tame for your avatar's looks..." Argo explained, "Which also supported my original suspicion that you joined after the Kayaba tutorial."

"I didn't want to hide everything, but there wasn't much of a choice." Leafa muttered.

"Oh well... in either case it doesn't matter too much." Argo's reply surprised Leafa. "Your identity isn't worth much, so I see no point in selling it. Besides, having your identity exposed would do more harm and good."

Leafa was surprised, fully expecting Argo to reveal her identity to everyone else.

_I guess Argo's reputation is undeserved; she's actually a very good natured person._ Leafa thought.

"The information on the guide may turn out handy though, as long as we disclose the information in moderation and with caution. As you mentioned when you first gave me the information, the current game seems to have changed so we can't rely on any of this. However, the basics information is still useful, and should help us along the way, so let me make a copy of the guide later on." Argo gave the items back to Leafa, who put them back into her inventory.

"So you're willing to keep everything a secret for me?" Leafa asked hopefully.

"Well, let's just say you'll owe Onee-san a favor." Argo smirked, "and while we discuss the terms, how about you help me level a bit."

Leafa beamed as her stress level dropped back down to non-existent levels, as she excitedly grabbed Argo's hand and dragged her.

"Now that the cat's out of the bag, why don't you tell me about your brother?" Argo smiled at Leafa.

"Well, he's really good at computers, and he's got very good athletic instincts though he never uses them. He's around 160cm or so tall, had black hair and black eyes, and oh he doesn't look too rough, a little on the feminine side I'd say" Leafa answered as she pictured her brother Kazuto in her mind.

"Hmm... that would be interesting if it was him... nah... what are the odds." Argo pondered. "Well at least with that description we can eliminate quite a few people that are in the clearing groups. Hopefully you'll find him in the clearing parties... and if not hopefully he's a high-leveled player not in the NEET squad..."

"NEET squad?" Leafa asked.

"A guild that calls themselves the '1337 Squad', a group of self-proclaimed 'professional gamers' or 'hackers'. Unfortunately, they have yet to produce any contribution to the clearing efforts, despite their higher-than-average level range. We have affectionately named them the 'NEET squad'. " Argo sneered in contempt.

Leafa shivered at the thought of seeing her brother wearing a bandana on his head and donning geeky clothing

"In either case, you'll eventually get to see him, but for now let's start leveling." Argo entered the field, and equipped her weapons.

"Okay!" Leafa responded, as she drew her sword. Now that she had someone to share her secret, she suddenly felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

_I suppose people in online games aren't as bad as I thought they were. I just hope that everyone gets out of this alive. Please stay alive Onii-chan._

**Author End Notes:**

Sorry for cramming all three of the girl's 'subplots' within one chapter, it's just that I want this out of the way so I can develop things as I move along. Too much exposition is never a good thing, and three chapters of it would be too much... (In retrospect, having them split up was a bad idea...)

Next chapter, we're going to have the announcement for the tournament! I wonder what I should do for the arrangements. (So far I'm thinking a 16/32 player elimination, with the players being selected from 8/16 groups of prelims... then I'll have to plothax Kirito to be allowed to join despite being away from the action...)

ARGH! I wrote myself into a corner AGAIN!

For the record, I haven't forgotten about the Kibaou slaying, it'll be there.

Our dear poncho friend is also planning something, but that'll be later so don't hold your breath.

Sorry, no Aki for the time being... (does anyone even still remember him?), Mika's back on the stage though, let me see what I can cook up for her. (Yes, I have a hard time letting go of my own OC's... don't worry, I don't think I'm pushing for a KiritoxOC ending... )

As always, thanks for your continued support, and see you next chapter!

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 7th)

Surviving Players: 9428 (+? players)

**Characters: **

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

**Kirito 29**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop**

**Leafa 26**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 27 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**[Boots of the Hornet]**

**Silica 27**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 26**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 23**

**Klein 27**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 27**

**L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 24**

**L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[Kiteshield]**

Keita - 23

Tetsuo - 22

Ducker - 22

Sasamaru - 22

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-24

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 25

Other DDA 16-25

/Diabel - 25

/Thinker - 23

/Coper - 23

/Kibaou - 22

Other ALF 16-25

Heathcliff - 27

Godfree - 25

Daizan (non-combat) - 16

Other KoB

/Aki - 25

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	61. Budokai(武道会) vs Budokai(舞踊会)

**Budokai(**武道会)**vs Budokai(**舞踊会)

**_Please send me a PM if the characters don't display in the title. THANKS :)_**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**Notes:**

**I just realized that all my formatting for the last several chapters disappeared when I uploaded the file. Guess the upgrade on changed things around.**

**(Why they don't have full support for MSWord, I have no idea... but oh well)**

**Q&A:**

**First of all, I hope that bit with Lisbeth wasn't too cheesy a trick... I'm still working on my humor.**

**FrostyMouse: I'm going use a copout and say 'it's only called a katana'. Though I suppose I could also try to word my way out by saying something along the lines that 'Kirito is special. Honest answer - I thought katana sounded better, and didn't think about the implications... lol...**

**(Later on, there will be characters using weapons that they have no mastery, the main drawback will be their inability to use sword skills, and a lack of a damage bonus given to increased mastery of a weapon.)**

**A Jack Frost Guy: Aki's just a face at this point, though he ****_may_**** plan a role somewhere down the line... the 1337 Squad will show up during the tournament at least...**

**Laeveteinn: I think this chapter's shorter than the previous... lol... (well, if you discount the fluff) I've stopped doing the sidequests now... makes the game so much more entertaining.**

**zinmaster24: Still trying to decide whether I want to have Zevela join up with Leafa first or Asuna first... so far teleportation crystals are not available, and Kirito's was part of a quest reward. As for incentive for Kirito to return: my clearing kick for Kirito comes at the end of the chapter. **

**RoXas Obivion Oathkeeper: Well, from our POV they're copying Kirito... but inside the game it's just like how people choose a weapon type because they think it works. Who knows... maybe they'll become more famous than Kirito (OK... we know that won't happen, but that's beyond the 4****th**** wall)**

**Kojiro Kun: Thanks. I'm trying to figure out the combat mechanics... luckily I still have a bit of time. **

**Haatar, Azure, and everyone else thanks for the continued support.**

**Sword Art Online: Infinity Note:**

**I just realized that the way I wrote Leafa into this fanfic was almost 100% in line with her character in SAO: Infinity Moment... talk about coincidence. (No, unfortunately I had no insider information or anything of the sort... it was just a random act of chance.)**

**Finally gave up doing all the sidequests... been flying through the floors now... once I'm done I'll need help translating the floor names... LOL**

**Well... time to write up the Sword Skills from SAO:Infinity Moment... Orz **

**Off-topic: Katana skills have such ... names... I'm going to die trying to translate them... LOL.**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [11:15]**

**Location: [12th Floor – Polaris - Town Arena]**

"Thinker-san, Lynd-san, are these terms acceptable?" Asuna asked, as Lynd and Thinker skimmed through the conditions written on the parchment.

"Very well, I see no problem with that. DDA's policies were created in order to encourage players to become stronger. If they are willing to take part in clearing activities, then I have no reason to deny their choice. However, we will not be allowing any of our members to endanger themselves in a boss raid." Lynd nodded as he finished reading, and returned the parchment to Asuna.

"I fully understand, I'm glad that I am able to reach an understanding with both of you." Asuna replied.

"In return, can I take this as an acceptance to our offer as well?" Thinker asked the spokesperson of the upcoming clearing group.

"I do not have any objections, if it is only a simple tournament. The grouping method is acceptable, and will also allow prospective clearers to show us their ability. As expected of the leaders of the two most influential guilds..." Asuna replied.

"As for Kirito-san, I have arranged to have him put in the last group of preliminaries, that way there is a better chance that he will return to fight. We have ordered one players in the same group, so that he may be seeded even if he does not show up." Thinker added, to which Asuna frowned.

"You sure went out of the way to get Kirito-kun in the tournament, what's the catch?" Asuna asked.

"Many of Aincrad's population are looking forward to see his abilities first-hand. Having Kirito-kun in the tournament will boost the sales of our tickets, and will in turn allow us to purchase more equipment for our clearing groups." Lynd replied for Thinker, as Asuna looked at the two with surprise.

"I never expected you to be so obsessed about ticket sales... I feel like I've been tricked into your game now." Asuna said with a hint of irritation.

"As mentioned before, the profits will be split equally between the number of participants in the final tournament. There will also be an extra portion for the first three. Or course, the winner will also get their own prize money." Thinker replied.

Asuna looked at the arrangement of the groups, noting how the guilded members were being distributed between the groups.

"I thought the tournament was meant to be fair?" Asuna frowned as she pointed to the charts. "Sure doesn't look like it, considering that all our members will be paired up against one of yours."

"I would prefer that you think of it as 'may the best player win'. Though level-wise your group may have a slight advantage, we also have elites within our ranks. As you are also aware, the tournament duels will be set to lessen the level difference advantage, so the bottom line still boils down to skill." Lynd responded.

"Well, if you're set on having a complete level playing field, then I suggest we also make slight changes to the way the groups are set up." Asuna took the tournament chart, and made changes to the group assignments.

Asuna's changes mainly adjusted the grouping so that the ALF and DDA had fewer exclusive groups where their members would be facing non-guilded players, and Lynd frowned at the change.

"If you arrange the groups this way, then neither group will have an unfair advantage going to the finals." Asuna grinned as she showed Lynd and Thinker the new arrangements.

"Asuna-san, with due respect, our guilds are larger than yours, if we were allocated the same amount of spots as your group, we would more members than spaces." Lynd protested.

"In that case... to quote your words, 'may the best player win'. If the situation was reversed, you'd say the same thing as well right?" Asuna used Lynd's previous statement against him, causing the man to curse under his breath.

"I understand, we will make arrangements within our guild then. However, in the case that certain non-guild player spaces are taken, we will draw lots to determine who fills the spot." Thinker spoke up, looking over the group arrangements. Asuna nodded in approval, and Lynd remained in silence.

"Good to see we've reached an agreement. Now if you don't mind, I would like to ask you about a personal matter..." Changing the subject, Asuna showed Lynd and Thinker a brochure that she obtained in [Starting City]. The two guild leaders looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison.

"Unfortunately we have no influence over the group that organized the Christmas event. However, we have contacted the leaders of the group to remove our endorsement, as it seems that one of our subordinates authorized it without our consent. Convincing the organizing party to remove your concert, will be your job though." Thinker said. "To be honest I think it's a shame, it would be a good chance for you to unwind, Asuna-san."

"I'm perfectly fine the way I am. The best thing that would help me unwind is the fact that we have one less floor to clear, but since I'm stuck at this point I'll settle for finding the boss' room." Asuna replied sternly.

"I assure you, that after New Years we will resume clearing at full force. I'm expecting you to notice a significant change in the motivation of our players, and that the clearing effort will be safer and more efficient" Thinker promised, as he turned to Lynd.

"Now, Lynd-san, is there anything else you would like to discuss beforehand? If not then we should prepare for the meeting, as the players are starting to arrive."

Lynd shook his head, then turned to Asuna. "I look forward to meeting you in the finals."

Asuna nodded, as she watched the two leaders walk towards their guild members.

_Now, time to tend to more irritating matters._ Asuna thought as she turned around, heading back to her group. She wanted nothing more than to get back to the field, but right now a fire had to be extinguished before it got out of hand.

Asuna turned towards the group of girls in the distance, a rarity considering the fact that most female players stayed in [Starting City] and did not venture outside the safe area. She had purchased the information about the guild 'Otome Alliance' from Argo, and found out that they were responsible for holding the Christmas event. Apparently the part about her participating did originate from her 'fanclub', but first she needed the event organizers to bail her out. (She would hunt down the members of her 'fanclub' and deal with them later... or so she thought.)

As she walked towards the girls, Asuna was surprised to see the faces of Lisbeth and Silica amongst the group. The two girls caught sight of Asuna, and quickly rushed over to her.

"Asuna-san, please help us!" Silica's plead completely caught Asuna by surprise.

"What's wrong? Are you being pressured into something?" Asuna asked Silica, concerned that she might have been in trouble.

"Well, we have an issue that we need your help." Lisbeth spoke up for Silica, who was still trying to put her concern into words.

"Tell me what's the matter, I promise I'll do my best to help." Asuna replied immediately, it was not common for Lisbeth NOT to be straight-forward, and Asuna wanted to help her friend.

"It's a little complicated, and I don't think Asuna-san would like the idea…" Silica stuttered, which further convinced Asuna that she needed to help.

"Doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's something I can do, I'll help you since that's what friends are for." Asuna reaffirmed.

"Are you sure? You're probably not going to like it, and it'll slow down your leveling progress…"

"Oh come on Liz, I said it's OK… so just tell me what to do." Asuna brought her fist to her chest, and gave the 'leave it to me' expression.

"Well… in that case…." Lisbeth grinned.

"We want Asuna-san to be the singer for our band." Silica smiled as she told Asuna of the request.

"No problem, leave it to me… WHAT?!" Asuna's voice changed pitch as she realized what she had promised to do.

"Thanks Asuna! We were worried that you wouldn't agree to it." Lisbeth sealed the deal before Asuna could take back her promise, as Silica dragged Asuna towards the group of girls who were waiting for her.

In front, a girl with short hair seemed to be waiting for her. Asuna looked at the girl, who wore a bright red skirt with a green scarf. The edges of her blouse were lined with white fur, and a slight amount of glitter was applied to her short hair.

"Asuna-san, thank you for coming here, my name is Mika and I'm the leader of the guild 'Otome Alliance'. As you may have heard, we are hosting the Christmas event for the players, and I apologize for the rumors that have popped up." Mika bowed apologetically, stopping Asuna from complaining before she even started.

"*sigh* It wasn't too much of a deal…" Asuna sighed as she resigned, realizing that she had been one-upped again.

"Well, now on a happier note, thank you for joining us, and welcome to 'Christmas in Polaris'!" Mika's voice did a 180, as she cheerfully greeted Asuna. "Now, let's go over what we're actually doing."

Asuna received a stack of parchment from Mika, and it dawned on her that she really was the event organizer. The stack was filled with writing, with occasional scribbles overlaid over certain sections, and amounted to over 50 pages.

"I suppose it's hard to read everything in this summary, so I'll just go over the main event which is what you will be taking part in." Mika smiled as she looked at Asuna's bewildered expression.

_And she called the 50 pages a summary…_

"Our main event is scheduled for the night of Christmas eve, starting at 8:00pm. As you may know the players are holding a fighting tournament (武道会- budokai), and many players will be gathered on this floor. In contrast, we have decided to hold own budokai (舞踊会)– a Christmas Ball designed to let players socialize." Mika explained to Asuna.

"Naturally, we need music for the players, as well as a main attraction, and that's where we come in." Mika grinned, "Most of the music for the dance will be performed by NPC's and musical items, but however the last part will be live. We've acquired most of the players needed to form an impromptu band, but we were missing a singer… that's where you come in."

"… so you're telling me you took the rumor as inspiration, and somehow made it into a fact." Asuna looked accusingly at Mika, then at Lisbeth and Silica who turned away in shame.

"Yeah, pretty much. I do have backup plans in case you declined, though I must admit it would make our work even more difficult." Mika's expression quickly subdued Asuna's rage.

"Okay, I give up. Just don't hold your expectations too high, and understand that you're not stopping me from leveling on the field." Asuna put extra emphasis on the second part of her request.

"We have faith in your abilities, besides Liz and Silica-chan were always complimenting your singing voice."

"They what?" Asuna turned to the two girls with surprise.

"Asuna, did you not realize that you ALWAYS sing to yourself in the bath?" Lisbeth asked.

"Asuna-san's singing voice is really soothing, I wish I could sing like that." Silica added, as Asuna's face turned beet-red.

"Anyways, back to the event. I'll have the set-list ready within the week, we were lucky that we had several music students that joined the game, so our arrangements should be no problem. We'll be practicing quite often, but Asuna-san can probably join in later once we have the music perfected." Mika then opened her menu, and sent Asuna a friend request, who clicked the accept button.

"Well, I suppose I should get back to preparing now. Asuna-san, thank you once again for your help. Liz, Silica-chan, I'll see you afterwards." Mika waved as she returned to the large group of girls, Asuna did not miss their cheering as their leader informed them of the good news.

Slightly impressed at the short haired girl's ability to lead her group, Asuna smiled. Remember what she just signed up for, her expression went sour as she turned to the two girls. "You two had better fill me in on the details when we get back."

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [12:15]**

**Location: [12th Floor – Polaris - Town Arena]**

"As such, we look forward to seeing all you at the event, your presence will help warm up the cold winter night!" Mika's announcement invoked a wave of cheering and applause, as she turned around ready to head down from the stage.

"Oh! One more thing, for you gentlemen out there, if you're going to invite a girl remember to do so nicely! We don't want the [harassment prevention code] to cause overpopulation in the Black Iron Jail. See you soon!" The cheering quickly became a roar of laughter, as Mika exited the stage.

_This girl sure knows how to deal with the crowd, I wonder if she was always this gifted?_ Asuna thought as she watched the girl head back to her guild. Clearing her thoughts, she looked at Thinker and Lynd, who nodded back. The three of them walked up to the stage, ready to describe the details of the tournament.

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"Signups for the tournament preliminaries will begin immediately after this announcement, and the deadline will be tonight at sunset. If you have any friends that wish to join, please message them immediately to ensure them a spot."

"Preliminary group matches will be held on the 20th and 21st, the tournament will begin on the 22nd, with the finals occurring on the 23rd. Please ensure that you are available and ready to duel at the indicated time, and failure to do so will result in an automatic loss."

"Please remember that restorative items are not permitted, as are weapons with status effects. For all of you pursuing the glory of becoming champion, we wish you all the best of luck, and may the best player win!"

Admist the thunderous roar and hot-blooded cheering, the three leaders of the clearing group walked down from the stage. In their place a bulletin board was set up, detailing the rules of the tournament.

**(Author Notes: Please refer to next chapter for tournament guidelines and rules)**

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00]**

**Location: [7th Floor – Outside Labyrinth Area]**

Kirito stood in the field, his arms folded once again, watching the fight before him. In front of him a blonde scythe-wielder was engaged with a dungeon boss in close combat, in a fervent exchange of slashes. Despite having spent half a day going over sword skills with the girl, she had yet to activate an actual scythe skill while fighting mobs.

_Or rather, she doesn't need them. _Kirito thought to himself, as he watched the boss' HP slowly chipping away.

Glancing at the top-left corner of his vision, he could see the health bar of the girl that was in his party. Over the 15 minutes of fighting the level 28 mob, Fate's HP had only dropped 10%. While he was well aware of the girls fighting style by now, it was still amazing to see her predict the boss' attacks with such precision.

_The guess the world is a big place, I never knew of players with such mastery over their virtual bodies. _Kirito thought to himself, he had met capable and nimble players, such as Asuna or Argo, but what he was witnessing was on a completely different level.

"Fate! Do you want to switch by any chance? You're going to tire yourself out at this rate." Kirito suggested, partially due to the fact that his own senses were getting slow due to the down-time.

"Sorry, I must be losing my concentration. I'm ready to switch when you are." Fate responded over her shoulder, dodging to the side as the boss' Axe missed her head by mere inches.

_It's not you losing your concentration, but me… oh well…_

Kirito bent his knees as he got ready, preparing to charge in. "I'm ready!"

"Switch!" Fate's scythe glowed as she released her first Sword Skill in a while, [Crescent Uppercut]. Her scythe skimmed the floor by millimeters, as it ascended to the sky. The attack caught the boss' axe as he recoiled it upwards, and destroyed its balance sending it reeling backwards.

Charging in, Kirito closed in towards the boss, letting his right blade glow blue as he began to execute his newest skill – the 4-hit [Horizontal Square]. Dashing past the boss and landing his first slash, he spun his body as he jumped diagonally backwards, swinging his blade as he circled around the boss with the system's assistance.

Lines of red appeared on the boss' midsection as Kirito returned to the front of the boss to land the forth hit. The two critical hits on the boss' back dealt significant damage to the boss' HP, and by the hit the boss finally dipped into the yellow zone.

"I can't move as fast as you do, so I'll need you to support me with your throwing picks." Kirito shouted, as he jumped away from the boss' axe that cleaved the ground where he was standing.

"Understood." Fate replied, as she fired a handful of throwing picks at the dungeon boss. Sparks erupted from the boss' body as the picks hit their target, sending the boss into a slight delay from the stun effect.

Kirito grinned as he charged in again, the small opening was all he needed to repeat the same attack, which had a low cool-down compared to the damage it dealt. Theoretically he could repeat the same process over and over until the boss was defeated, or until its attack patterns changed once it reached the red. Lighting up his sword, Kirito charged in for another horizontal square, supported by a shower of throwing picks.

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Half an hour and two switch rotations later, Kirito was greeted by the long-awaited 'Level-up!' announcement, as he sheathed his weapons. He turned to his partner who had the same pop-up, and was surprised to find that she had leveled up twice.

_How did that happen?_ Kirito thought as he walked over to the girl.

"Good work, how are you feeling?" Kirito asked Fate, as he peered over to look at the girl's status window.

"Just now, I reached level 24. Somehow I skipped level 23." Fate replied.

At this point, Kirito finally realized that he had never inquired about Fate's level, and it explained the possibility of Fate gaining two levels with one boss' fight. Furthermore, it was also the reason her attacked lacked power, though it could also be because of the type of weapon itself.

"At this point, you'll be as strong as most of the players active on the front lines... probably stronger than most." Kirito turned to Fate and congratulated her. Despite her mysterious origins and fighting ability, at this point it was good to have a powerful ally.

_To think that I've somehow fallen into mindset where I've preferred a fighting comrade...guess some things can't be turned back... _Kirito suddenly remembered that less than 5 days ago he declared that he'd 'find his soloing style back'.

"Kirito-san?" Fate looked at Kirito as he wandered into his thoughts.

"Now, if the person you are looking for is as strong as you, then it's almost a guarantee that you will bump into her in the near future – that is once we return to the upper floors." Kirito added, shifting his attention back to the girl in front of him.

"You seem to be concerned, is there something wrong?" Fate looked at Kirito as she asked.

"Well, it's not really anything serious. Just a little curiosity mixed with a few worries." Kirito replied. "I'm a little concerned about your memory. It doesn't make sense how you have no memories of your past, yet it doesn't affect your fighting ability in the least.

"I'm sorry, but I can't explain it either. There was one thing that I noticed though, and it was that the boss' rhythm became extremely predictable as I fought it. It almost seemed like I was able to read its movements before they started..." Fate tried to put into words the sensation she felt during the boss fight.

"As if your body knew instinctively how to fight?" Kirito interrupted, and the girl nodded.

_This makes less and less sense... I'm guessing that she's either a top-tier prospective athlete or some kind of martial artist. In that case, someone like that would have no reason or time to be stuck in a game like SAO._

Kirito's thoughts were cut short, as suddenly he heard the ringing of bells above him in the air.

High in the sky - just below the next floor's ceiling, the source of the ringing bells was sailing through the sky. Kirito squinted his eyes attempting to make out what the object was, but the distance was slightly too far.

"A sled..." Fate exclaimed quietly, silently announcing her more acute vision. At this point Kirito recognized the fact that there was a Christmas event being generated by the system, and as if on cue, a piece of paper fell from the sky.

"Let's see..." Kirito said as he caught the papers as it finally reached the floor, he then stopped speaking, and his expression turned more serious than ever.

"You got to be joking me..." Kirito clenched his fists in anger, holding the piece of paper that marked the start of the quest.

**Author End Notes:**

So, the tournament has been decided, and it seems like Asuna's gotten herself dragged along with the festivities regardless of whether she wanted it or not.

On the other side, Kirito just received some shocking news... I wonder how the system's Christmas event will affect the players' Christmas plans?

With everything coming together like this, will everything just collapse? Or will our heroes continue to survive?

Will I be able to handle this mess of a plot? Or will everything go down the drain? Will I ever actually finish developing those underdeveloped characters? Stay tuned... lol

See you in two chapters!

(**Next chapter will mainly explain the tournament, as well as some other random stuff... I'll probably use it to write down the Sword Skills that I extracted from SAO: Infinity Moment as well...)**

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 7th)

Surviving Players: 9428 (+? players)

**Characters: **

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

**Kirito 30**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop**

**Leafa 26**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 27 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**[Boots of the Hornet]**

**Silica 27**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 26**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 23**

**Klein 27**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 27**

**L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 24**

**L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[Kiteshield]**

Keita - 23

Tetsuo - 22

Ducker - 22

Sasamaru - 22

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-24

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 25

Other DDA 16-25

/Diabel - 25

/Thinker - 23

/Coper - 23

/Kibaou - 22

Other ALF 16-25

Heathcliff - 27

Godfree - 25

Daizan (non-combat) - 16

Other KoB

/Aki - 25

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	62. I'll be back for Christmas

**I'll be back for Christmas**

**_Please note that this will be a short chapter with a LOT of info dumping..._**

**_(Edit: Scratch that... not exactly short... but oh well...)_**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**Notes:**

**ARGH! is playing a late April's fools on me... all my formatting is messed AGAIN!**

**WARNING #2: Most of this chapter will mostly be an info dump!**

**The Christmas Quest description will be in the story, as will the description of the tournament... but apart from that.. not much else... so if you're looking for plot don't hold your breath.**

**Q & A:**

FrostyMouse: Correct on all counts (I'm surprised you checked Ch.2 and noticed that I forgot to update it... it's done now). Though technically Kirito doesn't realize since most of his weapons are 'unique', he missed how the names change. (Or he just doesn't really care... until it matters)

Kojiro Kun: Considering how smart Asuna was dealing with the ALF and DDA, she has to fall back down with something. Besides, she has a soft spot for her friends. Oh and sorry to disappoint you but the tournament's still ~3 chapters away...

Haatar the Bard: Your wish is my command... (read on)

Laeveteinn: I promise Asuna won't hurt him too much... though no guarantee on the damage of Kibaou's ego... (I wanted to say reputation, but I suppose he never had much...)

A Jack Frost Guy: Wouldn't really call it trouble... but it's true that Asuna's getting side-tracked again, despite her best efforts to make things work.

**Notes #2 - Stats / Sword Skills Interpretation:**

Just a quick clarification of the way I'm interpreting the Sword Skills system, since the system was explained a little differently between the three source materials (LN, anime, PSP-game). I'll also change the stat distribution to bring everything inline with source material.

(Don't expect me to start rolling dice to determine fighting results though...)

1.) Weapon Mastery: Determines the 'Sword Skills' available to the player, once mastery reaches a certain threshold, newer 'Sword Skills' will become available.

2.) Weapon Mastery increases with the frequency of use of the specific type of weapon.

3.) Certain weapons may increase more than one type of mastery... (to a certain point...)

4.) Weapon mastery is NOT required to actually use the weapon, but it is in order to activate 'Sword Skills'. (e.g. Anyone can dual-wield, but until you the mastery, no SS)

5.) Some weapon masteries will have prerequisites (similar to the PSP), but it doesn't prevent the player from using the weapon beforehand.

6.) There is a limit on 'active' skills, but there is no limit on obtainable skill slots.

This will be added to Ch.2 Notes, and I may add / change things as I learn more about the canon material.

**Sword Art Online: Infinity Notes:**

Gave in to the temptation and watched all the endings, spoiling myself completely... Orz...

Anyways, small info dump that I'll be putting on Ch.2 later.

**1H Straight Sword:**

Sonic Leap (AGI): 1-hit Charging AOE

Vorpal Strike (AGI/STR): 3-hit Charging AOE

Slant (STR/AGI): 1-hit (Darkness)

Horizontal (STR/DEX): 1-hit Slash-AOE

Vertical (STR/VIT): 1-hit (Hit Accuracy)

Star Quint Prominence (DEX/STR) 6-hit (+Double ATK)

Horizontal Square: 4-hit (DEF-down)

Vertical Square (DEX/STR): 4-hit (Paralysis)

Meteor Break (VIT/STR): 3-hit heavy

Phantom Rave (DEX/AGI): 6-hit Ultimate Skill

**1H Curved Blade:**

Fell Crescent (STR): 1-hit Straight AOE (High Accuracy)

Reaver (STR): 2-hit Straight AOE (Bleeding)

Farrant Fullmoon (STR): 4-hit (Stun)

Bear Knock (STR/AGI): 4-hit heavy Straight-AOE (Martial Arts)

Oval Crescent: 3-hit Straight-AOE

Death Creep (STR) 1-hit AOE (Dodge-down)

Lasing Chopper (STR/VIT): 4-hit (High Accuracy)

Melee Smash (AGI/STR) 4-hit heavy (Martial Arts)

Legion Destroyer (STR/VIT) 7-hit Ultimate Skill

**1H Rapier:**

Linear (DEX): 1-hit Charging AOE

Streak (DEX/AGI): 1-hit Charging AOE

Above (AGI/DEX): 1-hit (Stun)

Rip Ravine (AGI/DEX): 2-hit (Aspd-down)

Over Radiation (DEX/AGI): 10-hit heavy

Sweep (AGI/DEX): 2-hit Slash-AOE (Darkness)

Accel Stub (AGI/DEX): 3-hit heavy

Penetrate (AGI): 3-hit (DEF-down, High Accuracy)

Delta Attack: 3-hit heavy Straight-AOE

Flashing Penetrator (AGI/DEX): 9-hit Ultimate Skill

**1H Dagger (All skills have 'High Accuracy'):**

Armor Pierce (DEX): 1-hit (DEF-down)

Side Bite (AGI/DEX): 2-hit Slash-AOE

Round Accel (DEX/STR): 2-hit 360-AOE

Cross Edge (DEX): 2-hit (DEX-down)

Rapid Bite (DEX): 2-hit (VIT-down)

Tri-Pierce (DEX): 3-hit (AGI-down)

Fad Edge (DEX/AGI): 4-hit (Bleeding)

Infinity (AGI): 5-hit heavy (STR-down)

Shadow Stitch (DEX/STR) 3-hit (Paralysis)

Eternal Cyclone (DEX/AGI): 4-hit Ultimate Skill

**1H Blunt**

Silent Blow (STR/DEX): 1-hit AOE (High Accuracy)

Power Strike (STR): 1-hit (Stun)

Upper Swing (VIT/AGI): 2-hit (High Accuracy)

Strike Heart (STR/DEX): 3-hit (SP-down + Stun)

DiastroPhism (VIT/STR): 5-hit (SP-down)

Thrice Blow (STR) 3-hit (No-block, Stun)

Brutal Strike (VIT/AGI): 3-hit (No block)

Trinity Arts (VIT/AGI): 3-hit heavy (Martial Arts)

Variable Blow (VIT/AGI): 8-hit Ultimate

**Dual Blades:**

End Revolver (AGI): 2-hit 360-AOE

Countless Spike (DEX): 4-hit Straight-AOE

Locus Hexedra (STR/AGI): 7-hit

Depth Impact (STR): 5-hit (DEF-down)

Dead Intersection: 5-hit (ATK-down)

Shine Cicular (AGI/DEX): 15-hit (Darkness)

Crimson Splash (DEX): 8-hit Heavy

Inferno Raid (DEX/STR): 9-hit High Accuracy

Starburst Stream (AGI/DEX): 16-hit Ultimate Skill

The Eclipse (AGI): 27-hit Ultimate Skill

**2H Sword:**

Avalanche (STR/AGI): 1-hit Straight-AOE

Blast (VIT/STR): 2-hit 360-AOE

Tempest (AGI/STR): 1-hit Charging-AOE

Eruption (STR/AGI): 2-hit AOE

Scooped (STR/VIT): 3-hit AOE (self: ATK-UP)

Lightning (DEX/STR): 4-hit AOE (Combo)

Meteor Fall (DEX/STR): 3-hit AOE (Combo)

Fight Blade (AGI/VIT): 6-hit AOE (self: Skill-ATK-up)

Calamity Disaster (AGI/STR): 6-hit Ultimate Skill (self:DEF-up)

**2H Axe (and Blunts):**

Whirlwind (STR/VIT): 2-hit 360-AOE

Grand Destruct (STR/VIT): 1-hit AOE

Smash (VIT/AGI): 1-hit AOE

Lumber Jack (STR): 3-hit (Dodge-down)

Ultimate Breaker (STR): 3-hit (Stun)

Crimson Blood: 3-hit (DEF-down)

Trample Act (VIT/STR): 3-hit super heavy (Low accuracy)

Crescent Avalanche (STR): 7-hit super heavy

Dynamic Violence (VIT/STR): 4-hit Ultimate Skill

**2H Spear:**

Twin Thrust: 2-hit Straight-AOE (Stun)

Helical Twice: 2-hit 360-AOE

Sonic Charge: 1-hit Charge-AOE (Aspd-down)

Fatal Thrust: 1-hit Charge-AOE (Darkness)

Revolve Arts: 5-hit Charge-AOE (ATK-down) (Martial Arts)

Vent Forth: 4-hit Charge-AOE (Dodge-down)

Dancing Spear: 5-hit Charge-AOE (DEF-down)(Martial Arts)

Dimension Stampede: 6-hit Ultimate Skill

**OMG, that took FOREVER... and don't tell me katana skills are missing... I'm going to go crazy just trying to type those characters out... ****Orz**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

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** [Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [13:45]**

**Location: [7th Floor – Outside Labyrinth Area]**

Kirito looked at the piece of paper that descended from the sky, and after reading it quickly he passed it to Fate. As Fate read the piece of paper, she noticed a flashing icon appear on the bottom left of her view, she clicked it and a window popped up.

_Summary:_

_In the cloudless day of Aincrad, a magical sled soared through the sky, leaving a trail of white in the silent skies. Amidst the falling snow, a slip of paper falls into your hand, warning you of a Christmas tale gone horribly wrong._

_According to the note that fell from Santa's sled, he is currently on the verge of bankruptcy, as Scrooge has bribed Santa's elves into leaving him. Santa's original plans for releasing new weapons to the players have been destroyed, and Nicholas himself has become an alcoholic wreck._

_To make matters worse, Scrooge had decide to use his bribed elves to raid [Starting City], in order to cut cost while he takes over the economy. The note, signed by the Scrooge himself, asks for assistance from the [Elven Underworld], and plans to meet their leader at the [Usual Location] in six days._

_Objective:_

_You must stop Scrooge and his accomplices, and prevent the disaster on Christmas day._

_Current: Locate the [Usual Location]. (Hint: Elven Underworld)_

_Rewards:_

_New weapon and masteries made available if quest successful_

_All weapons will be priced at 10% discount_

_LA on 'Scrooge, the scrooge' will give item [Ring of the scrooge]_

_(Failure to complete quest will result in 'City Raid' on [Starting City] on 24th Dec, mob level 5-20)_

_Time Remaining: ~6 days_

"Kirito, what is this?" Fate asked Kirito, who was frowning as he looked at his own window.

"It's a quest that was received by looking at the paper, and it doesn't look good." Kirito replied, walking over to Fate, he started explaining the quest window to her.

"If you look at the top section, the is the background information about the quest, which talks about how you received the quest and basically the 'story' of your mission. Most of the time it is irrelevant, but occasionally you will receive important information." Kirito then pointed to the next two sections.

"The middle section is basically your mission, and outlines what you have to do, and the bottom window gives the rewards for completing the quest. If you note the top right corner, you'll also see the label 'event', which means that this is a special quest for an ingame event - in this case it is because of Christmas."

Fate nodded her head with a blank expression, slightly overwhelmed with the information that Kirito was throwing at her.

"I guess it's hard to explain quickly, but right now all you need to know is that this quest is a top priority, because the quest isn't completed many people will die. I'm going to contact the people in the upper floors to see if they know about the event." Kirito turned his attention to his friends list, and scrolled down to the name 'Argo'. If there was someone who could spread information like wildfire, it would be the most influential information broker.

"?! How come it doesn't work?" Kirito panicked as he found out that his message function had been disabled.

_Impossible, unless Argo's stuck inside a dungeon... let me try someone else._ Kirito thought as he attempted to send messages to several people, all of which were denied.

_In that case, I suppose I have no choice but to go back. _Kirito took out his corridor crystal out in frustration, it was a huge sacrifice considering that corridor crystals weren't even available at the NPC shops yet.

"What's wrong?" Fate asked Kirito.

"I am unable to send messages to my comrades in the other floors, we'll need to physically go back." Kirito answered, "You might want to switch to your great-sword as a weapon, as there might be people who will harass you if they see you with a scythe."

"OK, I'm ready" Fate informed Kirito, as he held the corridor crystal up in the air.

"Destination: [Starting City], Corridor Open!" Kirito chanted the activation sequence for the corridor crystal, and waited for the portal to open. What waited for him was the silence of an empty field, with the occasional mob in the distance.

"Corridor.. OPEN!" Kirito raised the crystal again, shouting the command, but nothing happened. Bringing it back down, he opened the menu of the crystal, and to his dismay an extra line was on the item description - _Crystal cannot currently be used_.

"What the heck!" Kirito vented in frustration. While he had never used a corridor crystal before, he did not know that there were situations that prevented the activation of crystals - supposedly the invincible magical items.

Noticing that Fate was looking at him with worried eyes, Kirito quickly regained his composure. Recalling the last time he was able to contact anyone on the upper floors, he deduced the possibility that the entire floor was in an irregular state.

"Heh... guess I forgot to stay cool there, sorry. It looks like we've lost our easy way out of the scenario, so we'll have to do it the hard way." Kirito put his corridor crystal back in his inventory. "I hope you didn't find the boss we just fought too difficult, because the next one will probably be much worse."

"I'll try my best." Fate responded, as she brought out her scythe. Nodding, Kirito turned to the labyrinth entrance and the two players quickly walked inside.

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00]**

**Location: [12th Floor – Polaris - Town Arena]**

Leafa and Argo, having returned from their morning leveling run, stood in front of the bulletin board that had been set up. The arena was full of people, and there was a line in front of the signup table that had been set up.

"Are you planning to join, Argo?" Leafa asked 'the rat' enthusiastically.

"No way! Tell me to join this tournament is telling me to dance naked in front of everybody. My real occupation is an information broker, and giving away all my vital data in front of everybody is suicide." Argo replied. "I'm impressed at the organizers of the event though, this tournament will provide a perfect opportunity to find out all about the players that participate."

"I suppose so..." Leafa agreed half-heartedly, "Do you think I should join?"

"Why not? There's no sensitive information that you'll be exposing by joining the tournament. All your information pertains to PvM combat, so you'll be fine. Besides, I need players like you to draw out the hidden skills of the other players." Argo said cheerfully.

"In other words, bait." Leafa looked at Argo accusingly.

"Nyahaha... sorry." Argo smirked as she turned around. "Well, I'll see you around. I'm meeting someone that has some juicy information. Thanks for the levels."

Leafa watched as Argo disappeared into the crowd, and returned her gaze to the bulletin board. As Argo had commented, the tournament was very organized, and the rules were detailed and specific. She didn't like the fact that she had to expose everything about her character's stats and skills, but it was perfect opportunity to test out her skills with other players. As Leafa picked up an application and started filling it out, she re-read the tournament summary on the bulletin board.

_First Aincrad PvP tournament, supported by ALF and DDA:_

_Welcome to the very first PvP tournament to be held in Aincrad, where players will meet up with the best competition in SAO. Our aim is to allow players to experience dueling, whilst having fun in a friendly competition._

_The tournament will be held in two stages, an initial group stage and then a final elimination round. Your ultimate goal is to be crowned as the 1__st__ champion of SAO, the leader of the players in Aincrad._

**_Basic Rules:_**

_The first stage will consist of group matches, where players will duel those in their group in a round robin schedule. In each duel, the winner will gain 3 points, while the loser 0. In event of a draw, each player is awarded 1 point._

_In each group, the two best players will advance to the final elimination, where the players will be randomly placed in the elimination round. The winner will be crowned as the champion._

**_Duel Format:_**

_Duels will proceed with 'level compensated handicap', and 'death prevention' will also be engaged. _

_(Author's Note: IMHO, it makes sense for SAO to have that kind of prevention in place, otherwise nobody would ever duel because of the fear of 'accidental death'.)_

_Duels in the first round will be 3 minutes long, utilizing the 'First Successful Strike' system. The winner will be the first to land a strike by destroying the opponent's defense or by landing an undefended strike. The winner may also opt to decrease the opponent's HP below 50% to win, and in the case where neither condition is met a draw is announced at the end of 3 minutes._

_Duels in the second round will be 10 minutes long, with the winner being the first to drop the opponent's HP below 50%. In the case where neither party is below 50%, the player with higher HP will be considered the winner._

**_Restrictions:_**

_All players are required to use melee weapons, and weapons may not be enhanced with status effects (stun, poison, etc.)_

_Projectile weapons are prohibited in the group matches, and in the elimination stage they are limited to 10._

_No items (restorative, buff, debuff, etc.) may be used._

_By popular request: Usage of [Extra Skill: Meditation] prior to a duel is also forbidden_

_(Please do not waste your time learning a skill that does NOT increase your chance of survival)_

_Participants are required to submit all weapons for appraisal prior to the match, and anyone using forbidden weapons will be automatically disqualified._

**_Weapon and Sword Skill Usage:_**

_Apart from the aforementioned restrictions, there is no restriction on weapon usage. Players are free to switch weapons mid-fight, as long as the weapons are registered. Furthermore, all sword skills are allowed (including skills with debuff effects)._

**_Required Information:_**

_P__layers are required to provide the following information: Avatar Name, Level, Guild (if applicable), Weapons List(subject to inspection), Skill List._

**_Scheduling:_**

_Players will receive notice of their group assignment by tomorrow morning, and equipment registration will begin tomorrow at noon. Please have all your information prepared for efficient processing._

**_Entrance Fee and Winner's Reward:_**

_Entrance fee is 15,000 col per player._

_For players reaching the 2__nd__ round, each player is awarded 5,000 col._

_The winner will be awarded 300,000 col_

_The runner-up will be awarded 200,000 col_

_Third place will be awarded 100,000 col_

_Forth place will be awarded 50,000 col_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [13:45]**

**Location: [12th Floor – Polaris - Daylight Diners]**

"Sorry, I won't be participating." Lisbeth said as she held her hands out in apology. "I received a few work orders for people wanting to refine weapons, and with the music practices I'm completely out of time."

"So it'll only be Asuna-san, Leafa-san, and myself that will be participating?" Silica said nervously, "I was hoping that everybody would join."

"Silica-chan, even if Liz joins, it only means that you might have to fight her." Asuna said, "Besides, it's not like she won't be there to support you."

"Besides, there's nothing you need to worry about. Apart from us maybe..." Leafa joked, as she turned to Asuna, "How about Klein-san and Keita-san's groups? Will they be sending anyone? We don't want to be severely outnumbered in terms of participants."

"As far as I know, Klein, Issin, Dale, Keita, Sachi, Tetsuo, Orlando, and Beowulf are all participating. Then there's Heathcliff and Godfree, though technically they'll be joining as 'others' according to our arrangements. If Kirito-kun returns we should fill up our share of spots." Asuna replied.

"It'd be nice if everyone in the finals was someone we knew, can you imagine the faces of the guys in the ALF and DDA." Lisbeth grinned.

"It's not as easy as it sounds, in almost every grouping, we'd have to defeat one of their best players in order to advance, a more realistic expectation is to hope for half of our people reaching the second round." Asuna shattered Lisbeth's high expectations.

"Still, I think Asuna-san and Leafa-san should have no problems getting into the finals, I'll try my best as well." Silica held her fists and announced eagerly.

"Especially Asuna, since ALF's giving her a freebie. Remind us to come watch Kibaou's execution." Lisbeth smiled as Asuna gave of a demonic aura.

"You bet." This time Asuna was grinning, as she put her hand on the hilt of her rapier.

"Whoa... Asuna's getting all fired up already... scary..." Leafa remarked, and the girls burst into laughter.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Leafa and I will be heading out to level, we'll meet again tonight for dinner." Asuna waved at Lisbeth and Silica, who were heading down to the market district.

"We'll tell you how the practice went, hopefully you'll be joining us soon." Lisbeth replied, as she walked down the street with Silica.

Watching the two girls disappear down the street, Asuna turned to Leafa, who nodded in return. They walked down the front gates of Polaris, to the fields where Leafa was leveling with Argo this morning.

As expected, the field was occupied with players that were busy fighting the mobs, trying to improve their weapon mastery so it might give them an extra sword skill for the tournament.

"It looks like everybody's working hard." Leafa said, turning to Asuna who was looking intently at the players.

"Yes, I didn't expect this to happen either, I guess Thinker-san and Lynd-san aren't the leaders of their guild for nothing." Asuna replied solemnly, slightly regretting the fact that she lashed out in front of them for stopping the floor clearing.

"Don't worry about it too much Asuna-san, we'll find a spot to train." Leafa changed the subject, as she pulled Asuna's hand leading her to a more remote location with harder mobs.

The two walked a good fifteen minutes towards the large pillar that reached up towards the next floor, and reached a remote area surrounded by [Hungry Tusk] - a level 15 mob with high attack and HP, but low defense and mobility. These mobs were on the high side of the 3 level variance from the floor level, so they were ideal for leveling on.

Before Asuna and Leafa began fighting, their attention was caught by someone shouting in the distance. They slowly walked to the source of the noise, and saw a player soloing in another field of Tusks.

The man was in his late teens, standing at around 170cm with light build. He was armed with a one-handed curved blade, and very lightly armored. Dancing around the [Hungry Tusk], the man dashed in towards the mob, landed a quick slash, and retreated before the mob was able to react.

Both Asuna and Leafa watched the man silently with interest, as the Tusk's HP was chipping away slowly. As the mob's HP fell into the red zone, Asuna motioned to Leafa, and the two walked away.

"That man's pretty strong." Leafa mentioned as soon as they returned to their leveling spot.

"Considering the fact that he's fighting solo out here, that's a given. His speed is remarkable, as is his courage in wearing minimal armor to avoid being hit. This man will be a difficult opponent once we encounter him in the tournament, consider ourselves lucky that SAO does not have high speed slashing weapons with long reach." Asuna replied.

"Asuna-san, you know that man?" Leafa inquired.

"Yes, he's Yunda from the ALF. I hear he is a good-natured person, if slightly impatient and temperamental. It would be an interesting contest of speed if I was to encounter him in the elimination round."

"I didn't know you were so competitive, do you already have a strategy?" Leafa asked.

"Perhaps... I know what strategy you'd be using though..." Asuna replied as she held out one finger. Leafa smiled and nodded at Asuna's prediction.

"Well then, let's start leveling, if we all goes well we'll have some time to spar afterwards as well." Asuna drew her rapier, as charged at the [Hungry Tusk], with Leafa following close behind.

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [16:30]**

**Location: [7th Floor –Labyrinth Area - Boss Room]**

Kirito sat on the floor, overcome with frustration and stress, as he scrolled through his various menus. Laying his blades on the ground, he ignored the fact that he was still inside the 7th floor labyrinth, and the fact that Fate was currently fighting the floor boss.

He had expected the floor boss to be one with high HP and defense but low stats elsewhere, but he did not predict the fact that the floor boss was one that would take an extremely long time to fight.

Having fought the boss for two hours already, Kirito looked at the boss' HP which hadn't even decreased beyond a quarter of the first bar. At this rate, even if there were no surprises, it would take a day to defeat the boss - a task that would be impossible for the two of them alone.

On the other hand, he was continually impressed at Fate's fighting style, which contributed to the fact that she _still _had not received a direct hit despite fighting for two hours with minimal switch rotation.

Watching the girl jump from rock to rock avoiding the boss' attacks, Kirito was oddly reminded of bull dancing. The only difference was that the boss was a large Snail-like creature, and that Fate was very unlikely to ever get hit. At this point, ee was starting to regret that he told Fate to keep her [Battle Healing] skill, since she would not increase its mastery if she kept this up.

_Oh well, I'll teach her to skill level after we get out of here. _Kirito thought as he turned his attention back to his menus, seeing that Fate was in no danger.

Re-reading the quest dialogue to see if he could find clues, Kirito remembered that he had another quest item that may be useful. Opening his inventory, he scrolled down to the other crystal in his inventory and opened it.

Opening the item's menu and scrolling to the bottom, Kirito's eyes lit up. The other corridor crystal also was disable, but its description was '_cannot activate crystal while inside labyrinth area'._

"Fate! Get ready to retreat, we're falling back out of the dungeon." Kirito called out to Fate, who looked at him with confused expression.

"I found another way out, it should save up more time than trying to defeat the boss." Kirito replied, as he charged towards the floor boss and attacked with [Exact Onslaught] - a common skill designed to flinch an enemy and allow a switch rotation.

Fate took the opportunity and swung her scythe around her body, and smashed it on the boss' shell, the recoil sending her flying backwards towards the entrance. Kirito smiled as he jumped backwards to make some distance, before turning around and running away from the floor boss.

Exiting the labyrinth, Kirito took out the corridor crystal that was given to him by Kizmel earlier, and raised it into the air.

"Open Corridor!" Kirito's shout was met with the crystal's shattering, as a portal appeared in front of him.

Nodding to Fate, Kirito started walking into the portal.

_Looks like I'll be back for Christmas._ Kirito thought as a blue glow engulfed his vision.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx**

**Author End Notes:**

Turns out my 'info dump' transformed into a full chapter...

So Kirito's conquest of the lower levels is now on hiatus... or is it? What will Kizmel say when she finds out that Kirito wasted her corridor crystal?

On the tournament side, we've got quite the tournament going on, and you can bet that the major guilds are going to rack in the profits...

I still haven't decided who I want to win the tournament yet... (really! I'm not lying...), so if you want to place bets now is the time... lol...

Oh, and don't ask me why I decided to do a dump on the Sword Skills from SAO: Infinity Moment... I just had one of those crazy moments...

See you next chapter!

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 7th)

Surviving Players: 9428 (+? players)

**Characters: **

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

**Kirito 30**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop**

**Leafa 26**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 27 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**[Boots of the Hornet]**

**Silica 27**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 26**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 23**

**Klein 27**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 27**

**L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 24**

**L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[Kiteshield]**

Keita - 23

Tetsuo - 22

Ducker - 22

Sasamaru - 22

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-24

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 25

Other DDA 16-25

/Diabel - 25

/Thinker - 23

/Coper - 23

/Kibaou - 22

Other ALF 16-25

Heathcliff - 27

Godfree - 25

Daizan (non-combat) - 16

Other KoB

/Aki - 25

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	63. Preparation and Practice

Preparation and Practice

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Notes:

I'm working separately on the individual fights apart from the main story, so expect delays in both. Expect round 1 to start in 2 or 3 chapters... (The next one's not going to have enough space to cover the first matches... unless I start writing 10K word chapters and switch to a bi-weekly release... which would probably kill me... lol)

Q&A:

azure blue espeon: I can almost guarantee Asuna vs Leafa somewhere down the road. Leafa vs Kirito I'll probably by unable to do for now... Fate on the other hand I really don't know what I want to do at this point... (still trying to figure out if I can find a legit excuse for her to miss out... since she would probably obliterate everyone without breaking a sweat...)

zinmaster24: Sorry for being the bearer of bad news, but it is unlikely that any OC will be in the finals... at best 3rd place... (otherwise they'd be too influential to the plot, being the elites at such an early stage.) I'm planning to use the tournament as a device to start building their characters a little more, so that they aren't just a random mug with nothing but good stats. Hopefully it'll work out...

Kojiro Kun: I'm planning on it... hopefully I don't forget something stupid and mess things up.

Laeveteinn: Stop reading my mind, now I'll have to get Asuna to lose to Kibaou just to prove you wrong... j/k... but it's no surprise that Asuna's the most popular choice... but don't forget about Heathcliff and Kirito.

Everyone else, thanks as usual, and hope you're enjoying the read. If I screwed anything up, don't hesitate to point it out :)

(I'm hoping to have some time to review and fix things up... though as always I procrastinate that in favor of continuing the story... maybe once I reach a token chapter.)

Sword Art Online: Infinity Note:

I've actually NOT played for the last few days... OMG

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [16:45]**

**Location: [8****th**** Floor – Elven Encampment]**

"Kirito-san, it has been a while. I heard that you have already ventured down to the 7th floor..." Kizmel's voice was the first thing to greet Kirito as he exited the portal.

"How?" Kirito was surprised at many things, but his questions were cut off as Kizmel continued to speak.

"I'm sure you're questioning why we expected your arrival. We had scouts tracking the whereabouts of the magical sled that traversed the floors, and by chance our scouts located you and your companion. You might be interested in the information we have gathered on our targets, as well as the group called the [Elven Underworld]." Kizmel answered the questions that Kirito had wanted to ask.

"..." Kirito was at a loss of words, unable to decide whether it was a good thing that everything just seemed to fall together at the perfect time.

_I suppose the corridor's level requirement was level 30, and somehow the Christmas event set Kizmel as a mission NPC. Everything almost seems too convenient, as if the system was actively involving me in the quest. _Kirito thought.

"It's going to be a lengthy explanation, so maybe we should head inside before we talk. I'll be waiting inside so come in once you're done what you need to do." Kizmel smiled as she turned around and headed back into her tent.

"Kirito, is that woman what you call an NPC? She seems like any other person." Fate asked Kirito with curiosity.

"Yeah... I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see her for myself." Kirito exclaimed, "But first things first..."

Opening his friends list, he reopened his message to Argo and sent it. This time the message was sent through, and Argo quickly replied.

[Argo: _Ah Kii-bou! Perfect timing, I was trying to contact you, but the system wouldn't allow me._]

[Kirito: _Put whatever it is on hold for now, I have important information that I need you to tell everyone, especially the ALF and DDA. It concerns a possible raid on [Starting City] _]

[Argo: _Send me the details ASAP. My sources have information about a Christmas Event, but there was no mention of a city raid. It was suppose to be an event that would unlock new weapon classes._]

[Kirito: _So it matches what I have as well. Did your message talk about a 'Scrooge'?]_

[Argo: _No, but there was a [Santa Nicholas] that was in trouble because his elves ran away. We have to locate where the elves disappeared to._]

[Kirito: _It makes sense now, all that will probably lead to the same place. I suspect at the very end you'll have to fight an event boss named [Scrooge the scrooge]. The consequence of failure will be a city raid at [Starting City] by mobs leveled 5-20._]

[Argo: _Understood, I'll continue to gather more information. Unfortunately I'll need more proof until we can convince the ALF and DDA to stop everything. They're pretty busy with their own player Christmas Events as well. Which reminds me: We've already entered you in the Christmas PvP tournament, you owe us 20K for the entry fee.]_

[Kirito: _If I'm back by then, sure. But let's get this quest finished first.]_

[Argo: _You should talk to Thinker about that, and also confirm your intention to compete._]

[Kirito: _Thanks for the heads up! I'm counting on you.]_

[Argo: _Anything for my favorite Kii-bou, that'll be 50K in total. Thank you have a nice day *wink*_]

Kirito sighed as he closed the message box, and opened a message to Thinker.

[Thinker: _Long time no see Kirito-san. How is everything going?_]

[Kirito: _Not well, we've got a crisis on our hands._]

[Thinker: _Wait a moment, I've received a message from the information brokers. What?!_]

_That Argo sure was quick, _Kirito thought as he waited for Thinker's next message.

[Thinker: _Kirito-san, is that information true? About the possible raid of [Starting City]? _]

[Kirito: _Unfortunately, yes, unless we can stop it by completing the quest._]

[Thinker: _I'll have all our available members search for clues about the quest, fortunately we have all our members training at this moment, so it'll be easy to keep an eye out._]

[Kirito: _Thanks, and could you also inform Lynd-san of the DDA? I'm not exactly well acquainted with him._]

[Thinker: _No problem, I'll inform Lynd immediately. But honestly, the timing could not be worse. I assume you're aware of the tournament and Christmas ball?_]

[Kirito: _I know about the tournament, but not about the ball._]

[Thinker: _Just as expected of Kirito-san. Anyways, we have inserted you into the last group fight. You're set in a 3-person group, and our members will drop out if you don't make it in time. That way you're guaranteed to have a seat in the finals._]

[Kirito: _Thanks for rigging the competition, I suppose. Actually, could you add another player in my group?_]

[Thinker: _I suppose, but how come?_]

[Kirito: _Just someone that I want to have a fair match with, I'll provide the necessary data and payment when I return._]

[Thinker: _OK, just to let you know it's 15K per person._]

[Kirito: _...OK, thanks. I'll keep you informed on my end._]

_That Argo! _Kirito thought as he realized that he was conned again. Closing his windows he turned to Fate.

"Let's head in, we'll try to advance the quest as far as we can." Kirito spoke to the girl, "By the way, I've entered you into a player organized tournament. Maybe you'll find someone you know there."

"Okay." Fate answered without argument, making Kirito feel slightly guilty for not asking for her permission beforehand. Concentrating his thoughts, he and Fate walked into Kizmel's tent, where they would receive information about the quest at hand.

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[Date: December 18, 2022]

**Aincrad Standard Time: [17:30]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Polaris Music Practice Hall]**

"Great work everyone! Let's grab some food!" Mika announced energetically as she put down her guitar. The first practice was a great success, and all the girls were in high spirits.

"I must say it's greatly due to the fact that you have excellent music arrangers." Éclair smiled at the girl at the keyboard.

"Thank you... but it's nothing really... SAO has a really easy music system..." The girl at the keyboard, Cocoa, replied shyly.

"Liz-san was amazing at the drums, I never knew you played so well. I wish I could musical instruments as well as you." Silica was busy chatting with Lisbeth, who was spinning her drum-sticks with both her hands.

"... well, there was a while that I was really interested in music games. Especially the classic games like drumman*a..." Lisbeth replied shyly.

"Well, I'm glad Silica-chan invited you as well as Asuna-san. I never expected you to know each other." Mika spoke cheerfully as she walked over. "Now, how about we grab some dinner together?"

"Can't think of a reason not to." Lisbeth replied, "I'll send a message to Asuna and Leafa to meet at the Diner. Hopefully they're not too busy leveling..."

"Mind if I come along?" Éclair asked as she walked over, holding a cup of coffee.

"Of course, you're part of the band aren't you?"

"Oh, and grab Cocoa before she flees." Mika pointed to the slightly short girl, who was tiptoeing towards the door.

Silica was quick to grab onto the girl that was around her height, and playfully pulled her back to the group.

"But... I..." Cocoa stuttered as she looked at Mika.

"You'll be fine, Asuna-san's not that scary... right?" Mika looked Lisbeth for reassurance.

"As long as you don't mention words like 'ALF', 'spikey', 'cactus-head'..." Lisbeth's reply didn't invoke the response she had expected, as she watched the girl shiver.

"So... the rumors are true?" Cocoa's question was barely audible.

"What rumors?" Lisbeth asked.

"That Asuna-sama is planning to give ALF divine judgment, and the sinner is going to perish for his crimes?"

This time, it was Lisbeth that was shocked into silence.

"Cocoa-san, where did you hear all that?" Silica asked Cocoa, who was now shivering in fear.

"I heard it from a friend in her fanclub, they were saying that their wishes will soon be granted, and that Asuna-sama will rain divine judgment on ALF."

"Don't worry Cocoa, Asuna-san's not that kind of person." Mika assured the little girl, then she turned to Lisbeth, "Apparently we have a small group of people in our guild that worship Asuna-san, and it so happens that one of Cocoa's real-life friends was in the fanclub."

"Guess Asuna's got more fans than we thought..." Lisbeth let out an embarrassed laugh.

"Asuna-san must have it tough." Silica agreed quietly.

"Well, we'll find out when we see her, so there's no use worrying Cocoa-chan" Éclair said as she grabbed Cocoa's arm, "Let's go! Oh by the way, Mika-chan, the coffee's a 7, your cooking skill is pretty good isn't it?"

"I'll take that as a compliment, I don't know if you remembered, but the first coffee I served you got an abysmal 4, that was when I first started working on the first floor." Mika teased the red-haired girl.

"Oh! So that's why you knew I had a thing for coffee! I was surprised that there was a cup of coffee placed beside my seat when I got here. Sorry for the harsh rating back then, it's just that I'm very particular with my coffee." Éclair winked as she apologized.

"Don't worry, I've taken it as incentive to improve my cooking skill, and now I can say my cooking is almost acceptable."

"Remind me to ask you for a coffee once you've mastered the skill." Éclair added.

"No problem, I'll treat you to a free coffee once it happens, but it may take a while. Just don't hold your coffee addiction waiting for it, you'll never last." Mika warned, and the group laughed as they exited the practice hall.

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[Date: December 18, 2022]

**Aincrad Standard Time: [18:00]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Daylight Diner]**

"Asuna-sama, my name is Cocoa, and I'm honored to be able to meet you." Cocoa's eyes were glittering as she grabbed Asuna's hands and started shaking it.

"Uh... nice to meet you Cocoa...-chan?" Asuna didn't know how to respond, slightly embarrassed that she become the center of attention, again.

The girls sitting at the same table looked at each other in silence, and Lisbeth was the first to break the silence as she turned to Mika.

"Is Cocoa-chan always like that?"

"No... she's usually shy and timid. I think a switch just got turned on..." Mika smiled in embarrassment.

"I'm so glad that Asuna-sama agreed to join us in performing, with you in our group there's no doubt that this Christmas event will be the best. People will be talking about this concert for the years to come, even after we've returned to real life." Cocoa was completely in her own world, still grabbing onto Asuna, who was becoming more and more uncomfortable from the attention.

"Cocoa-san!" Mika finally decided to take action, and put both her hands on Cocoa's shoulder, drawing her gaze towards her face. "You'll have plenty of chances to talk to Asuna-san about the performance, please calm down for a while."

"Oh... I'm sorry Mika-san... I got carried away again." Cocoa finally reverted back to her quiet norm. Mika apologized to everyone in the Diner, and sat back down as she turned to Asuna.

"Asuna-san, thank you once again for joining us. I hope we didn't cause too much trouble for you." Mika turned to Cocoa, who had calmed down and prepared a stack of papers.

"Cocoa's our keyboard player, as well as our conductor and arrangement artist. She's actually quite the prodigy in real life, so you can be confident that the music was arranged to perfection."

Asuna took the stack of papers from the girl who was now red with embarrassment, and took a quick glance. The score was carefully arranged, and organized into different sections.

The first section was obviously for the introduction, as it consisted of several orchestral scores meant to be programmed for the NPC musicians. The transition then consisted of several modern folk songs, Christmas carols, as well as modern Christmas hits. Finally at the end of the program, the section for the band was written. Concentrating on the vocal section, Asuna started humming quietly as the others looked on with surprised expressions.

"Cocoa-chan, the music is written very well, I'm looking forward to sing with your band already. Just a few small changes that I'll need though: In the first song, the last cadence of the first section, I'll need to resolve to the dominant or the lower octave as my voice won't reach. You might need to rearrange the chord inversion for the instruments because of me, sorry about that. There are several sections that I'll need to do something similar, and also for this section of the instrumental cadenza, it might be hard to me to sing along the upper octave..." Asuna started talking to Cocoa about topics that confused the other members, and the girls sat silently observing the technical exchange of the two girls.

"Asuna, I never knew you were so good at music." Lisbeth exclaimed as Asuna finished her recommendations, which had Cocoa bring out a pen to write out the changes.

"I'd rather not talk about it too much, but it was part of my family upbringing. I gave up music a few years ago though, since my mother saw that I did not have the potential to become successful." Asuna averted her gaze, and Lisbeth realized that she was digging into something that Asuna didn't want to expose.

"Sorry Asuna, I didn't mean to..." Lisbeth began to apologize, remembering that talking about life outside the game was taboo, especially in SAO where everyone was unable to return to their original 'real' lives.

"Don't worry about it, none of it matters now. Not until we escape this game." Asuna's expression quickly changed back to one of resolution.

"Asuna-san, I know this is slightly off-topic, but will you be participating in the PvP tournament?" Éclair, who was previously silently drinking her 3rd coffee, spoke up.

"Yes I will, but don't worry, I'm confident that I can handle my time well." Asuna replied confidently, but Éclair seemed to have something else on her mind as she quietly ate her chocolate cake and truffles.

"Come to think of it. Éclair-san, you REALLY love coffee don't you? That's the fifth cup that you've consumed in a day." Mika suddenly commented, as she cut her strawberry shortcake with her fork.

"Yup, but chocolate's also my favorite." Éclair replied as she popped another truffle into her mouth.

"Maybe I should try making a café mocha for you..." Mika's comment was cut short by Éclair dropping her cup on the plate with a stern expression,

"Don't! I can't stand drinking that... Cocoa definitely doesn't go well with coffee." Éclair started freaking out, much to the surprise of the girls.

As the others tried to calm Éclair down, Cocoa silently drank her drink - a mocha latté.

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [18:00]**

**Location: [1****st**** Floor – Black Iron Palace]**

"Coper, are you sure you want to do this?" Thinker asked the brown-haired boy who was standing at the meeting table. "You're already busy training the members in preparation for a potential city raid, you won't be able to prepare for such a difficult duel."

"I'm sure. You needed someone to face him anyways, with the ways things have been arranged. Besides, the fact that I'm training all the time makes me the best candidate." Coper replied without a hint of hesitation.

"Coper-san, you're our strongest player in terms of sword skills. It doesn't make sense to have you placed in a group where you might need to forfeit by default, since if he doesn't return in time you won't get your duel either." Diabel expressed his concern.

"Well, someone got to do it, and I don't want you to set a bad example by sacrificing any of the unwilling members."

"Still, I object to having you placed in the same group as Kirito-san. We need you to win us a place in the finals." Diabel continued to object.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Diabel. Besides, I've wanted to duel Kirito since the day we met. I promised him that I wouldn't fall behind, so here's the chance to prove that I'm still doing my best despite falling behind in level. I've made my decision, so please support me." Coper bowed to the two leaders of the ALF.

Thinker let out a sigh, as he nodded his head. "I understand, we'll have you participate in Kirito-san's group then. Just hope that he does show up, and that you can defeat the other two. From he's told me, the other player isn't likely to be a pushover."

"Someone that Kirito wanted to duel, that sounds like an interesting opponent. I'm already getting fired up." Coper let out a grin as he bowed. "If you're looking for me, I'll be back in the training field. In case the Christmas quest fails, we'll need all available players to defend the city gates. We'll make sure they're ready to fight for their lives."

Watching Coper leave the meeting room, Thinker let out another sigh.

"It's a shame that Kirito-san wasn't interested in joining a guild. His influence goes to places he wouldn't even imagine." Thinker said.

"I agree, though he probably doesn't even recognize it. That being said, one of the reasons we're having this tournament is also to promote his influence isn't it?" Diabel added, as Thinker nodded in his direction.

"Though I don't think it's the right thing for me to do, we have little choice." Thinker said. "We need a player to act as the sun and light the way to our salvation..."

"Despite the fact that Kirito-san's more suitable as a guardian of the night, silently protecting us as we move forward. So we give him the burden of becoming light and darkness, almost sound like some grand quest there..." Diabel let out a laugh, as he looked at the tournament's finalized groupings.

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [18:30]**

**Location: [8****th**** Floor – Elven Encampment]**

"Kizmel-san, would you mind telling me where you obtained this food?" Kirito asked, as he munched away at a rack of back ribs. Beside him Fate was carefully cutting the meat off the bone, and slowly consuming the food.

"The meat is from the open fields to the north of this campsite, the [Boss Boars] produce the best quality meat, as they have the best nutrition from being at the top of the food chain..." Kizmel stopped and grabbed Kirito's arm as he got up. "Before you charge out to look for them, let me inform you that the Boars are only out in the daytime. At night the field is filled with dragons, so unless you want to become dragon-food I'd stay in camp."

As Kirito sat down dejected, Kizmel warned Kirito about the dangers of taking on the [Elven Underground] head on.

"So even with the help of your troops, it'd be unlikely that we would be victorious?" Kirito asked.

"If we sent all our troops, we would dominate in battle, but however there is a good chance that we would lose our objective, which is to find the leaders of the Underground." Kizmel handed a list to Kirito.

"The three leaders of the [Elven Underground] used to be regarded highly as the [Elven Trinity] by the masses, and their disappearance was actually what led to the different Elven tribes to separate. Decades later, the three returned and were responsible for countless crimes against the Elven race. So much that they are now called the [Corrupt Trinity]."

Kirito opened up the list, and read the description of the three leaders.

Fëanor: _Said to be responsible for the destruction of the Elven lands, he is said to be the inventor of the Dark Seal, as well as the leader of the group that spreads the seal throughout the lands._

Fingolfin: _The leader of the smuggling operations, as well as espionage and assassination operations. Our intel suggests that he had temporarily suspended his operations, but also suspect that there he is planning a grand scheme of evil and sacrifice._

Finarfin: _The leader that united the theives guild, and is constantly stealing resources and affecting society. Our sources have pinpointed his last contact to be someone named "Scrooge"._

"That's it!" Kirito said as he pointed to the list. "Finarfin's the man we need to find."

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[Date: December 18, 2022]

**Aincrad Standard Time: [21:00]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Polaris Music Practice Hall]**

Asuna sat down as the band started packing up for the day, the rehearsal went really smoothly and everyone was in high spirits. While it was true that the music system was very simple compared to actually playing the instruments, Asuna was surprised that everyone was able to play their part flawlessly.

Ever since the beginning of SAO, the thought of '_maybe I should take a break once in a while'_ would even surface on Asuna's mind, which she would immediate dispel. However, something in this room seemed to make Asuna relax, as she sat on the chair and let out a yawn.

"Asuna-sama, I brought you some water." The petite girl smiled as she handed a cup of water to Asuna, carefully making sure that no water was spilled.

"Cocoa-san, thank you for composing that song, I really like the way 'My Independent Destiny' sounds."

"I was surprised too, it was almost as if the song was meant for Asuna-sama. I mean... I wrote it with your image in mind... I'm really happy it turned out perfectly." Cocoa began to stutter as she described how the song fit Asuna's character.

On the other side of the room, Mika was talking to Lisbeth, Silica and Éclair about the remaining songs in the repetoire.

"Silica-chan, your woodwind skill allows you to play other instruments right? If you don't mind I'd like you to play the saxophone on this song. Éclair can also switch between violin, viola, and cello in these three songs. As for Lisbeth, you'll be busy because you'll have all sorts of percussion instruments." Mika said to the three girls who were looking over the simplified music scores.

"Well... I suppose it'll be similar to learning new songs in music games... no guarantees that I'll be able to perfect everything..." Lisbeth shrugged her shoulders, as she look at the stacks of paper. There were instances where she would have to change instruments half-way through a song, and the music looked quite challenging.

"It'll be fine as long as you get 'Good' or 'OK', after all our performance is almost impromptu. Just don't 'Miss' during important sections..." Mika responded.

Suddenly, the message chime rang, and the girls looked at their inbox.

"Oh! The groupings for the tournament are out, do you want to have a look?" Mika exclaimed?

"Mika-san, did you join the tournament?" Silica asked.

"Nope, I'm barely able to survive on the field. Actually... I almost died once, so I don't think I'm made to be a fighter. Maybe later on I'll ask you to help me level a little bit so that I don't fall far behind the average level line." Mika stuck her tongue out as she spoke.

"That being said, I subscribed to the event notifications, so I'll be updated whenever something happens. Come to think of it, the participants should be receiving a message informing them of their groups soon." As Mika finished another message chime rang throughout the room.

Asuna walked over, with her message window open, and announced her grouping.

"Group A, and my first match is against 'you-know-who', not bad for an opening exhibition round. Guess it's time I should start sharpening my rapier." Asuna grinned, as she announced.

"Well, I'm not participating, so I'll be rooting you on. Make sure you don't kill Spikey though, I don't want to get my cleaning stone dirty." Lisbeth joked.

"Looks like I won't meet you until the final," Éclair said, "I'll be in group J, and my opponent... huh?"

"Éclair-san, you too?" Silica exclaimed in surprise.

Asuna and Lisbeth dashed over to Éclair and Silica, and looked at their message window.

_Assigned group:__ Group J_

_First match: Éclair vs Silica_

Author End Notes:

Tons of happenings in this chapter... and everything's just getting started.

On one side, Kirito's desperately hunting down the location of the Christmas event, in an attempt from preventing a potential tragedy. Luckily he's not alone, and now with NPC Kizmel joining in he finally has a fighting chance.

Going up a few floors, it looks like the girls are in for some tense moments, with Éclair suddenly finding out that Silica was not the cute helpless girl she mistook her for. Will that create tension in the group?

Finally, things are also getting serious down in [Starting City], with Coper training the members full-force. He seems pretty excited to finally duel Kirito, but will he get his chance? Or will he be sacrificed to ensure Kirito a spot in the finals?

Stay tuned for the next chapter! Link Start!

Cheat Notes:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 7th)

Surviving Players: 9428 (+? players)

Characters: 

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

Kirito 30

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 27

L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15

[Bullish Shield+9]

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9

[Boots of the Hornet]

Silica 27

L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9

Lisbeth 26

L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8

**Fate 24**

Argo 23

Klein 27

L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9

Agil 27

L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9

[Taurus Backshield+5]

Sachi 25

L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9

[Kiteshield]

Keita - 24

Tetsuo - 23

Ducker - 23

Sasamaru - 23

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-25

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 26

Other DDA 16-25

/Diabel - 26

/Thinker - 24

/Coper - 25

/Kibaou - 23

Other ALF 16-25

Heathcliff - 28

Godfree - 26

Daizan (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

/Aki - 29

Floor Opening History:

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	64. Costume Party

**Costume Party**

**_(For the record: 1 more chapter after this one planned until the tournament starts)_**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**Notes:**

**Sorry for the mess in the 'Cheat Notes', I guess I completely confused quite a few people.**

**Just to clarify, those notes are intended for MY USE ONLY. (Mainly so that I don't suddenly pull have Kirito pull out an antique sword that is way outdated. That was one of the problems that I had when I still had everything on Ch.2... it took forever to locate character levels and EQ.)**

**Now, just to make things friendlier, I'll probably (but not definitely) rearrange the notes, in preparation for the tournament. Please tell me if I screwed anything up next chapter, as at that point everything should be accurate. THANKS :)**

**Q&A:**

Guest: It's true that Kirito's weapons haven't been upgraded in a while... and it was intentional. (Mainly due to the fact that he has no access to newer weapons, and the unexplored floors are mainly an anomoly...) You might also have noticed that the level gap between him and the others has shrunk. As a matter of fact, the entire 'Kirito Group' has lost a chunk of their level advantage over the rest of the front lines, and this sets things up for later floors.

(I'm sure Asuna's less than happy about that...)

A Jack Frost Guy: Haven't really had time to address the tensions between the groups at this moment. Probably save it for later... (Main problem is the 48 member limit for raid groups... and also the disadvantages of having more than 1 raid group.) FYI, I've updated Ch.2 and 3... your OC submission should be halfway down. (The next intake batch should be in Feb)

FrostyMouse: I suppose I should give Tolkien credits for the names, though the name is all that I will be using. I'm trying to flesh out the characters outside the battle-lines, but since most characters are battle oriented it's not as easy as I thought. Once I start the tournament the other OC's will get a chance soon.

Haatar the Bard: I'm still trying to figure out how to do this properly... While it's be nice for Kirito to stop the raid single-handedly, it'd put his over levels over 9000 (or 8000 if you read the original manga)... I'm also going to (try to ) address Fate's OP'ness next chapter, since it is potentially game-breaking...

Bladedknight: I'll be honest, even I completely forgot about him... besides... the 'cheat notes' are mainly for my convenience... for now...

zinmaster24: I'll be addressing the equipment issues in next chapter 'cheat notes' (hopefully). Come to think of it... did I actually state whether Agil was participating or not? (Really should have added that into the cheat notes... lol)... I know Klein's definitely in the tournament... They'll be popping up this chapter as well... Finally, as for Zevela, she's appearing next chapter... without the scythe though (since that's one reason the Christmas quest is here...)

**Sword Art Online: Infinity Note:**

**Went berserk and cleared another 3 levels in one sitting... I'm completely burnt out... it sucks that the plot is almost non-existent after the side stories are finished. Only a little section at the beginning of each floor... then again I suppose it is a niche PSP RPG game. **

**(and no, I'm not attempting to type out the katana skills... I'll wait for someone more proficient at typing moonspeak to put it online. Sorry...)**

**(If anyone wants to volunteer, please send me a PM... I'll try to email you the save-file)**

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [08:30]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Daylight Diner]**

Today's breakfast scene was expectedly full of people who were talking about the tournament , as well as their expectations of the matchups. Many were talking trying to predict the results of the group matches, and others were raving about certain popular players. There were even several participants amongst them, and naturally they became the centre of attention.

"Did you hear? The grouping are already out, and guess what the first match is?"

"I know! The rumored execution of an ALF member, it's going to be a full house, so we'd better arrive early."

"I never like that Cactus-head. Too much ego and not much to support it."

"That's not true, he is one of the better fighters of the ALF."

"It won't matter though, he's fighting one of the strongest players in SAO."

"Not to mention one of the most beautiful."

"I'm dying to see her in action! I wonder if she's going to slaughter him like the rumors predicted?"

"Shhh! Don't let her hear us."

"What? She's here? Oh m..."

Despite all the commotion, there was one section of the Diner that was not crowded, an area that was ironically the meeting place of several participants in the tournament.

"Asuna-san, I think you can stop glaring at those people now." Silica said with embarrassment.

"Even the fan-club members should be able to get the hint by now." Lisbeth joked.

"Still, did we have to come here to eat breakfast today?" Asuna protested.

"It couldn't be helped, this is the place where Éclair habitually visits each morning." Mika answered, as she closed the ordering menu.

"I'm a little worried about Éclair-san, especially how she ran out after yesterday night." Silica looked at Mika with uneasy eyes.

"It must been quite a shock, to think that out of the 16 groups, she would be put in the same group as Silica-chan. On top of all that, to have to fight against each other for the first match of the group..." Lisbeth commented.

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**[Date: December 18, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [21:15]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Polaris Music Practice Hall]**

_First match: Éclair vs Silica_

The girls looked at each other, then to Éclair who had an stunned expression.

"Silica-chan? You registered in the tournament?!" Éclair was barely able to ask the question without stuttering.

"Yeah... I'm surprised that we're in the same group." Silica replied without a hint of tension in her voice.

"But why? I know the handicap negates the level difference, but how come you're participating in the tournament? Most of the participants are front-line players that are used to danger, fighting with their lives on the line." Éclair spoke with tension in her voice. "It's not exactly the friendliest tournament, and even I wouldn't have joined if I wasn't part of the front-lines. The matches will be difficult, and you might even have to fight with the clearing group."

Turning to Asuna, Éclair's continued. "Asuna-san, you're part of the clearing group right? You're definitely aware of how people in the clearing group fight, can you try to dissuade Silica-chan? The clearing group are players that are used to fighting with their life on the line, wouldn't dueling them be too intimidating for a young girl?"

Asuna suddenly seemed to realize why Éclair was freaking out, and put her hands on Éclair's shoulders.

"Éclair-san, please calm down. I know you're worried about Silica-chan, but I think you're mistaken about one thing. Though Silica-chan may be seem like a small child, she's not as helpless as she looks." Asuna smiled at a pouting Silica, then turned to Éclair.

"Actually, Silica's not only a front-liner, but she's actually in the clearing group. As a matter of fact, until yesterday night we were at the same level." Asuna's revelation had Éclair completely shocked, as she almost couldn't stay standing.

"Impossible! All the other children that are the same age live in [Starting City], most of them don't even walk outside the city boundaries. Even if they do go out on the field they should be protected by others so they don't get in danger."

"Éclair-san, don't worry about me, I'm actually fine out in the front-lines. It took me a while and I was helped many times, but I made it here." Silica tried to calm Éclair down, but it seemed to make her worse.

"No it's not fine. You must know how it feels to be stuck in this death game, having to life everyday with imminent fear of dying. Young children should not be out here, it's not fair to have you endure the fear and dangers of being on the front-lines, let alone the clearing group. I mean... even now I still have nights where I wallow in despair... I..." Éclair suddenly stopped talking, and ran out of the room.

"Éclair-san!" Silica chased the red-haired girl, but by the time she exited the store, Éclair had already disappeared.

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [08:30]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Daylight Diner]**

"Well, it is pretty shocking to find out that you're actually an elite player." Mika smiled gently at Silica, "You appearance just screams for others to protect you."

"_Mou_... Mika-san's teasing me as well." Silica pouted at the short haired girl.

"To be honest, I wouldn't have believed it either, if it wasn't for your pet dragon, and the fact that I remembered you were the girl at the second tutorial back in [Starting City]."

"So you did say 'Dragon Tamer' the day we met." Silica exclaimed, and Mika winked at the pigtailed girl.

"I hope Éclair-san has recovered from her shock, we were just getting to know her better." Cocoa suddenly added.

"I'll send Éclair-san another message." Silica opened her message window, and started typing a message. As if on cue, the diner's door open and Éclair walked in, and Mika got up from the table and walked away as Éclair approached the table.

Everyone noticed something was odd the moment Éclair entered the diner's, her usually energetic aura had disappeared, and her eyes looked completely lifeless. Éclair silently walked over to the girl's table, almost tripping over the chair, and sat down without a word, as if she was still asleep.

"The usual please." Éclair's tired voice surprised everyone, and worried eyes looked at Éclair in concern.

"Éclair-san, are you OK?" A worried Silica asked the girl, but no response was given.

"OK everyone! It's not going to work. Watch and learn from the professionals." Mika's voice came from the other side of the diner, as she returned to the table.

"_Hai!_ Éclair-san, the usual! Please be careful it may be hot." Mika gently placed a cup down in front of Éclair, as the aroma of coffee beans spread from the cup. As if stimulated by the smell, Éclair's head lifted slightly as she slowly picked up the cup and brought it to her lips.

All of a sudden, Éclair's pupils opened wide, and all the girls felt a wave of energy sweep by them. Looking at Éclair, her eyes were once again full of vigor, and a smile crept up her cheeks.

"Ah! I'm alive! Good morning everyone!" Éclair greeted everyone cheerfully, then turned to Silica.

"Silica-chan, sorry for what I said yesterday! I guess I got a little carried away." Éclair apologized as she stuck her tongue out and hit her head lightly.

"Don't fret about it Éclair-san, I thank you for worrying about me. I'm sorry that it ended up making you feel bad all night." Silica replied happily, as she watched Éclair return to the personality that she knew.

"Well, I can't say that I wasn't shocked, but I realized that it's unfair for me to impose my views on you. Besides, there must be a reason that you're here, something that gives you the strength to keep fighting." Éclair's energetic voice was always refreshing to hear.

"I don't know if it's appropriate for me to ask... but why were you so depressed just then..." Asuna asked, and Éclair tilted her head with a innocent expression.

"Actually... Éclair's always like that in the morning, she's in zombie mode until she's had her first coffee." Mika announced as she refilled Éclair's cup.

"Mika-san! What's with the 'zombie mode'? I'm just a little ditzy and sleepier without the coffee, I still got here fine." Éclair protested, as the girls started giggling.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx**

"Now that breakfast is done, we're getting down to business." Mika said as she made some space in front of her, putting a stack of papers on the table.

"Obviously, our main priority is to ensure our music is ready, but we're well on schedule with our preparations. The next thing that we need to prepare is our stage appearance, since it would be quite depressing to appear in our battle gear. We are going to address this issue today, before we all become busy." Cocoa started passing splitting the stack of papers into neat piles, and provided the girls with one stack each.

"What is this? A Christmas costume quest? I never heard of it before." Asuna asked in curiosity, not aware of the quest that the papers detailed.

"Fresh out of the press, just got it off the information brokers. The quest was discovered yesterday evening, when a player was seeking to improve her sewing skill from the NPC. If all the information is accurate, upon completion of the quest the extra skill [Formchange] is granted to the player." Cocoa explained, as Mika took another sip of her drink.

"From what the information brokers told me, the extra skill is an upgraded version of the weapon mod skill [Quickchange]. I'm sure you're aware of the [Quickchange] skill, since it's one of the most common skills for front-line players." Mika looked at the girls as she spoke.

"Yup, I use it all the time, especially when I get disarmed. I also find it really useful when I decide to play 'musical sword..." Éclair noticed that the other girls were looking at her, "Oh! It's one of my unique 'skills', where I toss multiple swords at the enemy. The system doesn't recognize my swords as a [Thrown Weapons] though, a shame."

"Anyways... the rumored [Formchange] is similar, but it allows you to quickly change from one full set of equipment to another. It's quite a convenient skill for front-line players, but it's also really useful for us in this instance." Mika continued to explain.

"Oh! We can use it to change our performance outfit!" Silica chimed in.

"Yup! It allows us to change our costumes without leaving the stage. The best thing is that unlike normal equipment changes, where our naked bodies are exposed for a fraction of a second, [Formchange] is instantaneous." Mika realized that the girls' eyes were glowing with interest now, and flipped to the last page of the papers - a rough map of the 12th floor.

"So I suppose we've reached a decision, so here's where we are going to start." Mika pointed to a spot on the map, "This NPC will start the quest, hey! Wait a minute!"

Éclair, in her excitement, had already got up from the table and started walking towards the door.

"Come on, let's go! I want to finish this by noon." Éclair waved to the gang, and other girls smiled and also got up and paid their own tab.

_It'd be great if we could finish by noon, but the quest isn't exactly that simple. _Mika thought, as she followed the group into the commerce district.

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Market District]**

Klein and Keita stood in a dark alleyway beside the weapons NPC, trying not to look too suspicious as they waited. Luckily, the market was unusually filled due to the tournament, and few paid attention to the two guys that have been standing in the same spot for over half an hour.

"Ya! Sorry to make you wait." The hooded figure finally appeared out of nowhere, as she removed her hood.

"Didn't expect you to be that late Argo, did something go wrong?" Klein asked.

"Nope, just a few tasty rumors needed to be fed to a bunch of eager girls. Oh, don't bother asking for their identities, the cost is quite high." Argo replied.

"Darn, and I had my hopes up too..." Klein sighed, "anyways, we went down the 9th floor, and you weren't joking when you said the level was barren... makes the 11th floor seem comfortable."

"I warned you didn't I? So did you find anything?" Argo asked, as she responded another message that had popped up during the conversation.

"We arrived at the town Gaia yesterday night, and proceeded to ask every NPC to see whether a quest update was available. Unfortunately, none of the NPC's had a quest relating to the Christmas event." Keita continued to report their findings.

"So there's nothing of interest in the lower floors then?" Argo was disappointed, since she was expecting a update to the Christmas quest.

"There was something, but unfortunately it is beyond our reach at this point. After dinner we decided to travel to the 8th floor, but when we reached the stairs we found it was guarded by a boss monster..." Keita was cut off as Klein started describing the monster.

"That's not _just_ a boss monster, it's a monstrosity that's borderline cheating. That thing's level was so high that we could not recognize it, and it had seven bars of HP!" Klein said in an exaggerated voice.

"Did you try to see if you could lure it away?" Argo closed all her menus, and asked the two guild leaders.

"Yes, but we were unsuccessful. The mob has an initial detection range of 50m, so even Nezha-san would be unable to perform an preemptive strike on it. It's aggro range goes up to 100m, and it also surprisingly fast. The worst issue is that its algorithm is set to attack the player closest to the stairs, so there's no way to lure it out enough." Keita concluded their findings.

"... and we won't be able to establish a raid party at this point." Argo clicked her tongue in irritation, an emotion that she rarely displayed. "Looks like Kii-bou's on his own this time..."

"Will Kirito be OK?" Klein asked in a worried tone.

"Well, he told me he found a strong ally, and that he'll be fine... but you know how the guy is... I just hate how we lack the information needed to help him." Argo replied, "Anyways, I'm going to continue digging around. I'll let you two start preparing for the tournament, don't want Asuna to get mad at you guys for slacking off."

"Argo-san, just one more thing." Keita held out his hand, and materialized a piece of cloth, with a black symbol stitched on the fabric. "We found this in Gaia, it may be the clue to something."

"Perfect, a lead. Thanks Keita! I'll see you guys around." Argo smiled as she pulled her hood back up, then disappeared into the shadows.

"Well Keita, that was enough excitement for a few days. Let's get back to the group and finish off our work, it'd be nice to get everyone organized an up to level soon. Thanks for all your help by the way, integrating the Braves would have been a lot harder if you didn't help us." Klein thanked the leader of the Black Cats, who had helped them act as training partners for the newest members or Fuurinkazan.

"Don't mention it, I'm glad that our small guild could be of help. Our guild has been helped countless times along the way, so naturally it would only be right for us to contribute back. Besides, your guild was one of the groups that rescued everyone in the 'Tutorial' back on the first floor." Keita replied humbly.

"Heh... I guess even we've gotten a little well-known because of that day. You have Kirito to thank for it though, he was the one that came up with the whole idea. As usual, everything he does comes full-circle, it's almost mind-boggling how everything is working out. As if he always happens to make the best possible decision." Klein laughed.

"Klein-san do you think Kirito-san will be OK by himself down in the 8th floor? It must be an important and dangerous quest if the entire floor's blocked off." Keita asked the bandit guildleader.

"I honestly can't say, but I know for sure Kirito's been dragged into something big as usual. Knowing his luck he's probably hanging out with pretty girls and elves, doing some sort of grand quest that involves devious plots and putting his life on the line... sometime I don't know whether I should envy him or feel bad for him." Klein replied.

"Do you think Kirito-san will make it back in time for the tournament?"

"Don't worry, he's Kirito after all... he always returns at the most dramatic moment. Probably say something like 'Sorry to keep you waiting' when he returns too..." Klein laughed, as the two walked back into the busy streets.

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]**

**Location: [8****th**** Floor – Valley of Lizards]**

"First dragons, and now lizards... this place sure is _interesting_." Kirito commented.

"This entire floor is filled with similar creatures, if you head to the west you'll also find several snake dens, though I would advise that you prepare a sufficient supply of antidotes." Kizmel warned Kirito, as she and her men followed Kirito's lead.

Kirito looked at Kizmel and her men, and was curious as to why she only took two men with her. Currently he was inserted into her party, and there were a total of five members, one short of a full party.

It didn't take long for Kirito's question to be answered, as he saw a familiar face at the opening of the valley.

"Kirito-sama, I have been awaiting your return." Vladm bowed to Kirito, who had almost forgot about the fact that he had a wood-elf servant.

"Uh.. Vladm, long time no see?" Kirito replied awkwardly.

"I was informed of your return, and did my best to get here at full speed. Kizmel has informed me of your intent to locate the one of the Trinity. Finarfin's last known location is past the valley opening, a crater known as the [Hidden Depth]." Vladm spoke to Kirito as he took out a map and handed it to Kirito.

"My unit has scouted the surrounding areas, and have confirmed members of the [Underground] lurking in the natural caves formed underneath the crater's surface. However, we have failed to infiltrate the lower levels... my humblest apologies."

"Unfortunately, the wood-elf's specialty is in tracking and wood-walking. However, when it comes to caves, we dark-elves are at an advantage." Kizmel took over the conversation, as he motioned to her two subordinates who promptly disappeared into thin air. "My men will scout ahead, and prepare the road for our infiltration."

"Do you know how heavily guarded the caves are?" Kirito asked.

"Theses caves are usually sparsely populated, but recently there has been a rise of activity within the area. I would be prepared for multiple contacts, and in case we are detected we will need to complete our mission quickly." Vladm answered.

Kirito nodded, then turned to Fate who was oddly silent.

"Is there anything wrong? You've been silent all morning." Kirito asked with a worried voice.

"Wait a moment..." Fate answered quietly with a serious expression. "OVER THERE!"

A flash of light streaked through the air, and several sparks appeared as a shadow faded into existence on a nearby tree branch.

"What?" Vladm exclaimed in surprise as he watched the twin-tailed girl jump forwards into the air, slashing the figure that appeared. The figure twitched and fell onto the ground, as Kizmel brought her sword to the figure's neck.

"Who are you? Why are you spying on us?" Kizmel shouted at the figure that turned out to be an Elf, wearing pitch black clothes and a dagger at its waist.

"You won't get anything from me." The elf spoke with resolution, and glared at Kizmel with killer intent.

"In that case, we will bring you back to our camp, and hopefully you'll be more talkative there." Kizmel replied.

"You wish... Hahahaha..." The elf started laughing uncontrollably, and then suddenly began convulsing. Kirito watched as the elf's HP dropped to zero within 10 seconds, and the elf shattered into oblivion, leaving behind the dagger in a sheath.

Picking it up, Kirito handed the dagger to Kizmel and Vladm, who were looking at the dagger with interest.

"No mistake about it, that emblem is that of the thieves guild." Kizmel confirmed, and nodded to Vladm.

"In that case, we should head in and find Finarfin as soon as possible, we are ready when you are." An exclamation mark appeared on top of Vladm's head as he spoke to Kirito,

Kirito looked to Fate, who had her scythe out and on alert, the girl noticed Kirito's gaze and nodded in response. Drawing his two weapons, Kirito took a step forward.

"Let's go!"

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [10:0]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Outside Polaris - Plains of Snow]**

"Uh... everyone, are you sure I should be tagging along with you all? I don't want to become a burden." Cocoa spoke nervously as she looked around over her shield, fearing the possibility of an ambush.

"Don't worry Cocoa-chan, if anything happens we just need to stay in the middle of the circle and let the girls take care of us." Mika joked, but the tension in her voice was evident.

"I wish there was a different method in doing this, but in order to collect the quest materials we need to be in the same party group." Asuna apologized, while cautiously looking for any surprises.

"Just remember to have your healing crystal ready, if anything happens we'll draw the attention of the monsters as you heal." Silica reassured the two girls.

"Talking about party, is Leafa-san OK by herself, being the only person that's not in the group?" Éclair asked.

"It's okay, if I didn't come along I'd be out here solo leveling anyways, so might as well join up and level together." Leafa replied.

"You don't have to worry about Leafa, she's just as strong as she looks." Lisbeth added. "Oh! I guess this is the place."

In the middle of the field of snow, a small oasis of green stood out in the white background. A row of trees blocked the view into the area, but the group saw the steam that was coming from behind the trees.

"What is that? An onsen?!" Mika exclaimed with excitement.

"We'll have to find out. Let's go!" Hints of excitement were also showing in Asuna's voice, as she quickened her pace on her approach.

"Asuna-san... wait up!" Silica called out to the leader of the party, as the girls started running to catch up with the rapier-wielder.

Out of nowhere, a howl echoed through the plains, and a couple dozen monsters appeared on the field, surrounding the seven girls.

"Oh no!" Cocoa yelped, as she ducked onto the floor.

"Cocoa-chan, don't get down, stay standing!" Mika grabbed onto her friend, and pulled her back up. The two girls stood back to back, holding their shield in front of them, and looked at the wolves.

"Asuna-san, it looks like we're surrounded." Silica called to Asuna, as she moved to a position where the Mika and Cocoa were standing between Asuna and herself. Lisbeth and Leafa also positioned themselves at 3 and 9'oclock, completing the circle that protected the two under-leveled girls.

"Don't worry, I'll stay back to protect you two." Éclair said to the two girls, as she drew her longsword from the sheath. The two girls nodded without taking their eyes off the pack of wolves that were closing in from all directions.

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Asuna' s rapier glowed, as her [Linear] met its mark, the [Scavenger Wolf] erupting as the rapier user turned to gaze to her left. Leafa was reading the wolf's movements with pinpoint accuracy as expected, and did not miss the mobs delay as she landed her [Vertical].

"Éclair, ready to switch?" Leafa asked over her shoulder, as she started to engage another wolf.

"Almost." Éclair replied, as she quickly navigate through her menus, materializing another sword and sticking it into the ground.

"Éclair-san, what are you doing?" Cocoa's lowered her shield slightly as she asked the red-haired girl.

"You'll see soon... almost... I'm ready Leafa, dodge left!" Éclair shouted to Leafa as she stabbed her own sword into the ground, behind a line of a dozen swords.

"OK! Switch!" Leafa's [Exact Onslaught] knocked the wolf upwards, crashing into the wolf that was behind it.

"Behold! 'Musical Swords'!" Éclair shouted as she picked up two swords from the line, and threw it at the group of wolves. Right after throwing the two swords, Éclair spun to the right and grabbed another two swords, proceeding to throw it. As her red hair flew around as she spun, swords flew towards the wolves like a machine gun. At the end of the twelfth sword, Éclair kneels down and grabs her longsword for support. In front of her, several impaled wolves disappeared into polygons as Éclair's swords fell to the ground.

"Sorry Leafa, but switch!" Éclair laughs weakly as she tries to regain balance; one of the side effect for her impromptu attack was the fact that she would be dizzy afterwards. (A time she would curse how _real_ the NERVEGEAR system was.)

"That was reckless! But pretty cool." Leafa smiled as she walked out from the circle slowly, casually slashing the wolves that still had HP left after Éclair's little stunt.

"Good job, just a few more and the quest should be complete." Asuna's voice came over the howls of the mobs, and it reminded Mika to check the quest log.

True to her expectation, her personal quota for 'Vanquished Scavengers] was about to be complete.

"Just a few more!" Mika shouted.

"Well, let's finish this quickly. Silica-chan, daggers!" Lisbeth called to the dragon-tamer, who responded by throwing a dozen throwing picks at the wolves.

"Hiii...ya!" Lisbeth slammed the mobs with [Silent Blow], catching many wolves in the blast. She then lifted her hammer and spun it with both hand, [Spinning Top] - a weaker version of [Spinning Demolisher].

Amidst a series of shattering sounds, Mika looked around, and saw that there were no more wolves that were surrounding them.

"Finally, we're safe..." Mika was cut off abruptly when a loud gust of wind drowned out her voice. A blizzard of snow encompassed the plain, blocking everyone's vision.

"Rah!" Silica's blue pet dragon suddenly started calling out to its master, who looked the way the dragon was facing.

"EVERYONE GET BACK!" Silica screamed as she jumped in the direction away from the oasis, while throwing two handfuls of picks at the shadowy figure.

The blizzard suddenly calmed down, a large shadow emerged, it was humanoid in form, and had white fur all over its body. As the silhouette of the figure became visible, the three bars of HP highlighted the field boss' name - [The Abominable Snowman].

**Author End Notes:**

The girls go on a quest for a new skill, and as expected it leads them to trouble. Will Asuna and co. be able to defeat the boss? Of course they will! But will they be able to do it without losing members? (I'm going to flip a coin for this one...)

A sudden (if expected) revelation, informing us the Kirito is **STILL **stuck in the lower levels without any hope of reinforcement. He'll be fine though (being the main character and all), but what will be discovered?

Many have also noted that I have not given any updates for Aki or the 'poncho foreigner'... they'll come in play sooner or later... I haven't forgotten about them yet.

Next chapter, the resolution of the costume mini-arc, more on Kirito's little raid on the [Underground]... and maybe a little bit on Lisbeth's 'job' (if I have time/quota for it).

**(TENTATIVE: INCOMPLETE!)**

**Cheat Notes**:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 9428 (+? players)

**Non-Canon Characters:**

**Aki 30**

**Mika 15**

**Fate 24**

**Eclair 25**

**Aixen 25**

**Vendette 25**

**Lancel 25**

**Zevela ?**

**Yunda ?**

**Characters: **

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

**Kirito 30**

**L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15**

**L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15**

**[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9**

**[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop**

**Leafa 27**

**L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15**

**[Bullish Shield+9]**

**[Boots of the Woodelf]**

**Asuna 28 **

**L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9**

**[Boots of the Hornet]**

**Silica 27**

**L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9**

**Lisbeth 26**

**L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8**

**Argo 23**

**Klein 27**

**L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9**

**Agil 27**

**L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9**

**[Taurus Backshield+5]**

**Sachi 25**

**L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9**

**[Kiteshield]**

Keita - 24

Tetsuo - 23

Ducker - 23

Sasamaru - 23

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-25

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 26

Other DDA 16-25

/Diabel - 26

/Thinker - 24

/Coper - 25

/Kibaou - 23

Other ALF 16-25

Heathcliff - 28

Godfree - 26

Daizan (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	65. Gains and Losses

**Gains and Losses**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Sword Art Online: Infinity Note:

FINALLY FINISHED THE GAME!

Sad thing is that because of that I lost access to all the floors now... Orz

Guess I'll have to find the list of floor names somewhere again...

**Q&A:**

zinmaster24: Here comes the saving roll... and it's a success! (No plans to kill off Cocoa right now, since she's not exactly a redshirt yet...) You've hit the nail on the head about the dragons and lizards, and the reason the lizards are higher in level is because of the 'bug' in the system; As for the remaining orbs, Kirito will eventually go back down... just not quite yet. (aka I've already got too much on my plate... lol)

Haatar the Bard: Sorry to disappoint you, but this arc may take a little while. On the bright side, Kirito's going to be coming back soon. (So naturally the 'main character spotlight' will be back on our favourite OP main.)

A Jack Frost Guy: Hard to say when he'll be back. No worries though, since Thinker & Lynd already have a plan to ensure he reaches the finals. (Too bad I'll have to sacrifice Coper for it... I promise I'll give him the screen-time he deserves though.)

Kojiro Kun: Thanks, I'll try not to mess up the fight scenes :) I must say it's hard to balance character development in an MMO setting though... hopefully the next mini-arc will give me a chance to develop the other OC's.

Atrile: Don't worry, nobody forgets about Kirito (and gets away with it)... as a matter of fact, one of the tournament attractions is the promised attendance of 'The Black Swordsman' (though it is not explicitly advertised as 'Asuna vs Kibaou'... lol)

FrostyMouse: Believe it or not, I'm actually disappointed that my chapter length was too long, since I originally wanted to keep my chapters 3000 words each. Mainly for pacing and organization purposes... and a bunch of other things... stuff that I stopped forcing myself to follow (such as ~2500 words, a chapter a day... stupid expectations that I should have known better than to impose on myself) Thanks for pointing out my errors btw, it's been fixed.

To everyone else, thanks for reading, and please review if you have time ^_^

Now for the story!

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [10:30]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Outside Polaris - Plains of Snow]**

The three bars of HP highlighted the field boss' name - [The Abominable Snowman], a large ape-like monster with large claws, breathed a white cloud of smoke.

Retreating back a safe distance, the party of seven girls held their weapons in a defensive position. Preparing for the onslaught of the boss, Mika and Cocoa stood behind the other five girls, who positioned their weapons ready to do battle.

With a roar, the Yeti jumped towards the girls, clashing its claws with Leafa and Lisbeth who blocked with their weapons. The three remaining girls dashed sideways and proceeded to attack the monster from the side.

"Draw its attention this way! Mika, Cocoa, move away from the boss, but don't go too far." Asuna commanded, as the five girls began their attacks on the field boss. Mika grabbed Cocoa's hand, and slowly retreated from the immediate area, while keeping her eyes on the surroundings. She had fallen in an ambush before, and was wary of triggering any other dangers.

The Yeti's attacking patterns were relatively simple, and the five girls had little difficulties evading - being used to the fighting on the front lines. As the first bar of the three disappeared, the girls began to attack more aggressively.

"I'll draw its attention! Try to get around it and aim for its back." Leafa shouted, as she sidestepped another slash from the field boss.

Silica and Lisbeth moved to the left of the field boss, and attacked the Yeti. Starting with Silica's [Cross Edge] drawing a cross on the Yeti's back, followed by Lisbeth's [Power Strike], which caused the Yeti to lift its arms and roar in pain.

Asuna and Éclair took the chance, and charged in from the right, attacking with [Oblique] and [Slant]. The field boss roared again under the rain of attacks from the five girls, and suddenly jumped 5m into the air.

"Move back!" Asuna shouted as she jumped backwards, the four other girls quickly followed suit as the Yeti landed with [Shockwave], sending a wave snow in all directions. It then charged through the blizzard it had created, towards Éclair who was slightly slower in falling back.

(**Author's Notes: **For the record, Éclair's slower not because of level or stats, but due to the fact that it's her first time partying with the others.)

Swinging her body around, Éclair swung her sword around with [Horizontal], her hair coursing through the air in front of the boss mob. The sword impacted the Yeti's claw, and Éclair flew away from the recoil. Taking a roll and getting up, Éclair switched her sword into her left hand, and starting manipulating her player menus with her right.

In a small flash, two swords materialized out of thin air, and Éclair quickly grabbed the swords and threw them in the direction of the Yeti, the blades sticking in the ground. Now holding one sword in each hand, Éclair dashed at the Yeti.

Dodging the first swipe as The Abominable Snowman closed in, Éclair stabbed the sword into the Yeti's right leg, and then jumped backwards and grabbed another which she threw at the Yeti's left, piercing the thick fur and into the leg of the monster.

The Yeti roared in pain, as it swept its claws at Éclair. Switching her sword back to her right hand just in time, Éclair activated a [Vertical] to lessen the impact of the mob, as she flew into the air towards the girls.

"Nice job, switch." Asuna commended as she rushed towards the Yeti with [Streak], stopping its pursuing attack towards the red-haired girl. Behind her Leafa and Lisbeth stood in defensive stance, in case the mob charges forwards.

"Éclair-san! Are you alright?" Silica passed a healing potion to Éclair, which she quickly consumed, the boss' attacks didn't usually hit its mark, but when it does the damage dealt was significant. Watching her HP go back into the green, Éclair nodded at Silica and the boss fight continued.

At the same time, Asuna was beginning to have difficulties holding off the Yeti, her HP had fallen into the yellow, and she was glad that the others were back in action.

"We'll hit it from all sides," Asuna shouted as they surrounded the field boss. "On three! One... Two... THREE!"

Silica's [Armor Pierce] and Éclair's [Sharp Nail] were the first to connect, followed by Leafa's [Salvage Fulcrum], the mob's roar was silenced by Asuna [Quadruple Pain], and Lisbeth's 3-hit [Strike Heart] sent the mob falling backwards and creating a huge plume of snow.

Silence returned to the field as the five girls still stood in tension, finding it odd that the usual shattering sound did not occur. In the distance, Mika and Cocoa saw the snow plume, and were running towards the girls.

"Did the boss get defeated?" Mika asked as she ran towards the girls.

"Wait, don't com..." Éclair's warning to the girls was cut off by the Yeti's roar, as it got up from the snow. Its body suddenly emitted a dark aura, and its eyes started glowing red.

"Run away!" Silica yelled at the two girls, but they were frozen in fear and couldn't move.

"We've got no choice. ATTAC..." Asuna's command was cut short by a sudden gust of cold air - a new attack from the Yeti when it reaches the last 25% of its HP bar. The attack [Frozen Breath] swept the five girls, adding the [Paralysis] status along with [Stun].

"RUN!" Leafa yelled at the top of her voice, but with the status effect her voice could not be mustered. The Yeti's red eyes started glowing, and it took to the air with one large jump, landing in front of the two helpless girls.

Mika quickly got in front of Cocoa, raising her shield with her trembling arms. She knew that the level gap was sufficient to destroy her defense, but she decided that she needed to save the timid girl who was cowering behind her.

_If this is the end of my borrowed time, at least let me end it by protecting someone. That way at least he didn't save me for nothing. Kirito-san... I tried my best!_

Time seemed to move in slow motion, as the Yeti's claw began to glow as it swiped downwards. The five paralyzed girls looked in horror as the sharp nails of the Yeti began to draw its path through the air, heading for the girl who would be killed in one clean sweep.

All of a sudden, a black shadow jumped between the Yeti and Mika, intercepting the claw to a stop. The shockwave from the block caused the snow to explode upwards, another plume that would fall back down as snow.

The figure in black held her dagger with the blade opposite to her thumb, stabbing the dagger into the Yeti's arm that she just blocked. Standing in half-kneeling stance, her blockage of the attack caused the Yeti to roar in fury, as it lifted its arm for another strike.

"Move back, it's dangerous." The girl calmly spoke to the two trembling girls.

Charging forwards, the girl in black dashed towards the Yeti with great speed, and performed the 4-hit dagger skill [Fad Edge], knocking off a good 5% percent with the [Bleeding] effect.

Pushing the Yeti back with a combination of throwing needles and her dagger skills, the girl kept the monster at bay, allowing time for the others to consume the anti-paralysis potion.

As the girls recovered from their paralysis and got up, the dagger-user held her dagger to the ground as it glowed purple, and released a [Flash Sting], sending the mob staggering backwards.

"Switch!" The girl calmly stated, as she watched the weapons of the five girls charge up and deal the Yeti its final blow.

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"Too close for comfort..." Lisbeth breathed a sigh of relief as she sat in the snow, not even bothered by the cold sensation from the floor. If it was her real body, she would likely be covered in cold sweat.

"Sorry for what we did... we almost got everyone killed" Cocoa apologized as she wept in Mika's arms, Mika stood in silence, still shaken up from the event.

"Don't feel bad, nobody expected the field boss to have a second rage mode" Éclair comforted the two girls, as Silica pass them both a warm blanket.

"At least we've completed the quest, I think I've had enough adventuring for the month." Mika finally spoke up, tucking her head inside the blanket.

"Well, the month's not over yet... and we're just getting started" Éclair stated, and the girls smiled at each other.

Where the field boss had disappeared, Asuna and Leafa were talking to the girl that had saved their party.

"Thank you for saving us, Zevela-san" Asuna bowed at the dark-skinned girl, who lowered her head slightly in response.

"It has been a while, Asuna-san. Congratulations on clearing the 11th floor, though I'm sure you know it was a reckless move." The dagger-user, Zevela replied.

"Direct as usual, but that's what I like about you. I remember you called us crazy for not retreating during the raid on the 2nd floor boss, in retrospect it actually was... but you know..." Asuna smiled at the girl who was in her group during the 2nd floor raid.

**(Author Note: **Slight change in canon, where Asuna's group consisted of Agil, Asuna, Kirito, and 3 _unnamed males_. It's now 2 _unnamed males_ and Zevela... see? Agil has a little lady's luck after all... his wife going to kill him... LOL**)**

"Sometimes crazy works? I still don't believe it." Zevela replied stoically, as she started to leave.

"Would you like to join us for leveling?" Asuna asked, causing Zevela to turn around.

"Thanks, but I'm a solo." Zevela's denied the offer without hesitation, but Asuna didn't miss the momentary smile that appeared.

"Asuna-san, who was that?" Leafa, who remained silent throughout the conversation, finally asked the rapier-user.

"That's Zevela, one of the strongest solo players out there. Maybe even the strongest if you don't count Kirito-kun. Which reminds me, you haven't met Kirito-kun either..." Asuna replied.

"I must say I'm definitely looking forward to meet him, since everyone talks about Kirito here." Leafa replied with a grin.

"He's a powerful ally, that's all I will say. Let's go back." Asuna replied, suddenly increasing her walking pace. "You'll meet him soon enough, he's slated to join the tournament as well."

"That would be interesting." Leafa thought as she started jogging to catch up with Asuna.

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00]**

**Location: [8****th**** Floor – Valley of Lizards - Underground Hideout]**

Kirito was surprised at the lack of resistance encountered inside the hideout, with a mere dozen guards securing the entrance and the occasional patrol inside. On the other side, he was amazed at the sheer size of the underground coves.

The entrance itself was not particularly grand, with a long passageway that extended downwards into the ground for around 100m, but what the passageway opened up to was beyond Kirito's wildest dreams.

Kirito had expected a maze of caves, with minimal space to maneuver and very little in terms of infrastructure. His guess was completely off though, when he saw that the underground hideout was likely an ancient ruin that had been converted.

Now in the center hall of the crater, Kirito could see that the passageway would wrap around three times in a hall that was around 100m in diameter. At the bottom, small torches lit up the ruins that were 5 stories below their current location, and at the very center a building similar to a temple stood out from the backdrop.

"I suppose that's our destination?" Kirito pointed to the temple, and Kizmel nodded.

"There is no way to avoid detection if we travel down the current walkways, however at the same time it is impossible to jump down. We will have to use these secret pathways that were provided by our scouts." Kizmel handed a map to Kirito.

"I will be heading with you towards the pathways, and in the meantime Kizmel and her men will continue travelling around the walkway as a diversion. Once we have reached the destination, I will contact Kizmel to block off the exit, preventing the flight of Finarfin." Vladm said as he placed his hand on a torch-holder on the wall.

Vladm turned the holder counterclockwise, and immediately the wall beside the torch-holder began to move, revealing a dark corridor. "This way."

Kirito nodded as he entered the pitch dark passageway, with Fate following. He gripped the hilt of his sword as his eyes struggled to readjust to the darkness.

"SystemCall - Generate Luminous Element" Vladm's incantation created a ball of light on his left hand, as he lit the dark passageway's with a dim light.

"I must say spell-craft is really convenient to have." Kirito exclaimed, as he continue to strain his eyes.

"Your companion, the holder of the lightning orb, should also be able to summon something similar. If I remember correctly, an incantation called ball lightning should provide enough lightning." Vladm replied mechanically.

_(Author Note: Before someone complains, the spells are only available at these levels.)_

Fate looked at the elf, then raised her hand hesitantly. "Systemcall - Ball Lightning" Her chant was responded by a massive surge of sparks originating from her gauntlets, as a ball of plasma was formed in the palm in her hand.

"Eh! How about me? I must have something that can do that as well?" Kirito complained.

"Kirito-sama, if you desire illumination you can activate your orb of light; or simply pull out your holy sword." Vladm's suggested, as Kirito sheathed his darkblade for his holy sword. The white glow of the sword, as expected, was able to light up Kirito's surroundings providing him with enough visibility.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Kirito muttered under his breath.

After a short walk, the group had reached the bottom of the secret passage. Kirito was surprised how smooth everything was proceeding, as they reached a extended rope which led to the bottom floor.

"All that remains is to drop down this shaft, and we'll be able to enter the temple." Vladm stated. Kirito looked down the shaft, it was a rather long drop, and there was the possibility of ambush as the bottom.

"Let me go first." Fate suddenly suggested, which surprised Kirito as she had stayed quiet all along.

"Are you sure? There may be an ambush at the bottom, though I suppose it's equally dangerous for all of us to go first. But since my level is higher, I sh..."

"I'll go first." Fate repeated, holding her skirt as she spoke with resolution.

"Kirito-sama, during times like these we should agree." Vladm suggested Kirito, as Kirito was trying to grasp the situation.

_Come to think of it, hasn't Vladm's interactions also become more organic? He and Kizmel are unlike any of the other quest NPC's I've seen._

While Kirito was wondering about other things, Fate had already grabbed the rope, and starting sliding down the access shaft. Vladm was next to go down, and Kirito grabbed the rope after Vladm started descending.

Almost reaching the bottom, the three stopped moving down. They could hear footsteps from the bottom floor, as well as shouting and the sound of weapon clashing.

"Kirito-sama, Fate-sama, we will likely have to fight. I will drop my ball of light and explode it, please do not look downwards. Fate-sama, you should do the same." Vladm said as he let his ball of light drop from his hand.

"SystemCall Burst!" Vladm timed his incantation as the ball of light almost reach the bottom floor. At the same time Fate let go of the rope and jumped down to the ground, throwing her ball lightning, she brought out her scythe as she chanted the same thing.

By the time Kirito got to the ground, the ambush party had already been neutralized by Vladm and Fate. Slightly disappointed, Kirito put his sword back into the sheath and walked out into the open area.

As Kizmel and Vladm planned, Kirito saw that many of the defending NPC's had converged on Kizmel's location, leaving the main area largely undefended. He activated his [Searching] skill, and noticed that the path to the temple was completely exposed.

"Let's go!" Kirito said as he started running to the temple, with his two comrades in follow.

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [11:30]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris]**

"Well, now that we've obtained the skill, it's time to try it out." Mika said as she opened her equipment menu. She noticed that at the bottom of her icon there was a row of new icons - save preset, load preset, transition time, default, delete. Manipulating her menu, she added a preset and dragged it onto her shortcut bar.

"Are you ready? ... and... go!" Mika pressed the 'formchange' button on her shortcut bar with her right hand, and instantly her existing equipment started to glow. After a second, the glowing armor emitted a shatter effect, and Mika was wearing the preset costume.

"Mika-san, did your other equipment disappear? It looked like it shattered." Silica asked with concern.

Mika opened her inventory, and then smiled. "Nope, its still here. There seems to be no decrease in durability as well."

"That's great... so we get special effects with this skill as well." Lisbeth grinned, "Looks like the 'transition time' gives us ways to play with the costume change as well."

"Seems like it, though it would be best to minimize the time since it would put you in danger if you were in battle." Asuna warned, as the other girls looked at her with weird expressions.

"What? This skill could become one of the most important skills in the game..." Asuna pouted.

"Point taken, we'll make sure we make good use of it _after_ we finish worrying about the concert."

The girls burst into laughter as Asuna looked at them with irritation.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well, I'll see you later tonight. I've got a few work orders that I need to tend to." Lisbeth waved to her comrades, as they headed to find a tailor named Ashley. Lisbeth decided that she wouldn't tag along this time, as she headed to the teleport gate. She had promised to meet Lynd, who seemed to have gathered his first batch of materials.

Lisbeth reached the gate just as the three DDA members appeared out of the teleport, and motioned for them to follow her towards the market district. Finding an open space, Lisbeth opened her 'Benders Carpet'

Lining 10 long-swords and 10 short-swords on the carpet, Lisbeth spoke to Lynd.

"I have done a little research, and have come up with these. You'll find them quite a bit better than the ones sold at the NPC, so it'll serve as a good base for upgrading." Lisbeth declared as the double dragons, Vendette and Aixen picked up the swords one by one.

"As expected of Lisbeth-san, we couldn't ask for more. As promised the DDA will purchase all your swords for full-price, now we can begin the upgrading process." Lynd sent the funds to Lisbeth through the trade window, and had the two dual-wielders pick up the blades.

"Before that, I have a request to make." Lisbeth pointed to a small opening away from the market district. "I wish to have a quick spar with each of you."

"You wish to gauge our strength?" Lynd asked in surprise. "I like the way you think. Very well, we shall have a friendly match before the tournament begins."

"Don't get me wrong, I've already decided to focus on making weapons so I won't be competing. The others will also not know of today's match, as I only wish to know your strengths before I upgrade your weapons." Lisbeth explained, as she walked to the small field.

"Very well, I shall be your first opponent." Vendette bowed at Lisbeth as he drew his two blades, 2 Reinforced Steel Longswords.

Lisbeth materialized her new weapon and opened her menus, sending a duel request to Vendette. As the timer counted down from 30, Lisbeth looked at the man who was around a head taller than her.

"Before we start, Vendette-san, my research tells me that you put emphasis on strength, am I correct?"

"Yes indeed. Do you wish for a contest in strength?" Vendette replied confidently.

"Perhaps, but before that, would you mind if I recommended you to switch to shorter swords?"

"Why so?"

"You'll see in a moment." Lisbeth replied as the timer counted to zero, and both players charged at each other.

Lisbeth's first attack was to initiate the sword skill [Silent Blow], charging forward with her hammer. The blow was blocked squarely by Vendette by crossing his swords, as he stood his ground and withheld the charge.

"Thanks for being a gentleman and giving me the first attack, but please don't hold back." Lisbeth said as she suddenly thrust her hammer downwards, causing the twin swords to slide as they crossed. Regaining freedom of her hammer, Lisbeth let the hammer drop as she spun the hammer downwards and then over her head.

"Haaa!" Lisbeth shouted at her hammer glowed again, activating an overhead [Power Strike]. The hammer crashed down on Vendette who once again blocked with both swords, but this time it overpowered his defenses.

Seeing that the two swords would not be able to stop the hammer, Vendette quickly jumped backwards dropping his two swords, and charged forwards with a [Cannon Fist]. Lisbeth quickly gripped her hammer with both hands and blocked the punch with the shaft of the hammer, sliding a good 2 meters backwards as she dissipated the attack.

"Whew... thought I wouldn't be able to block that punch." Lisbeth exclaimed as she opened her menus, selecting the 'forfeit match' option, "But now you know why I recommend short swords for you?"

"Yes, as a long sword has excessive leverage that would work against my strength, making me lose the strength advantage in a competition of power." Vendette replied, noting how Lisbeth's hammer was able to push down his two swords because of the ineffective angle.

Suddenly, the other dual-blade wielder walked up in front of Vendette, lifting his hands up in a bow. Vendette grinned as he patted Aixen on the shoulder, then walked back to Lynd.

"Uh... Aixen-san, you mind if I take a short break first?" Lisbeth became nervous as he sensed Aixen's expression suddenly change, as if he was waiting to kill. His two blades were already out of its sheaths, and the short-long blade combo gave off an intimidating aura.

"I'm always ready." Aixen's reply earned a sigh from Lisbeth, as she started another dual request.

The 30 seconds passed by slowly, and Lisbeth could feel the sweat in her hand form.

At zero, Aixen quickly closed the distance between himself and Lisbeth, as the girl poked the hammer forwards. Reacting to Lisbeth's attack, Aixen quickly dodged to the side and started to run circles around her.

_This one's scary in his own way._ Lisbeth thought, as she recalled the words that Kirito taught her about handling high speed opponents. Holding her hammer in both hands in a horizontal position, she waited for the right moment.

As Aixen suddenly became a shadow that charged at her, Lisbeth pushed her hammer with her left hand, and thrust out with her right - using the shaft of the hammer like a rapier. The shaft stopped in front of Aixen's face, as the two froze their movements. Aixen's short blade was several inches away from Lisbeth's waist, while the shaft of Lisbeth's hammer stopped just before it impacted Aixen's face.

"Impressive as expected. Though I suppose that duel was also a draw." Lynd clapped his hands as he walked towards the two players.

"Not true, I would have lost in a first-hit match." Aixen stated quietly, with a slight

"Though in reality you would have suffered much less damage than I would have." Lisbeth added, "I'm satisfied with a draw."

"The important thing is that we've decided on what the best weapons if for you two. Now, Lisbeth-san, if you don't mind. May I have the pleasure of dueling you as well?" Lynd materialized his curved blade, and sent Lisbeth a duel request.

"That's wasn't in the contract, but I guess a freebie's fine for nice customers as you." Lisbeth smiled as she put her hammer over her shoulder.

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"Lisbeth-san, I wish you good luck in refining, and thank you for putting your full effort into those weapons." Lynd thanked Lisbeth as he walked into the portal with the double dragons.

_As expected, Lynd is on a different level from the other two._ Lisbeth thought as she walked back towards the market district. The duel with Lynd was completely one-sided, with Lisbeth on the defensive until she lost over 50% HP.

_Klein would probably enjoy meeting Lynd in the tournament, since their styles are similar. Anyways, I'd better get these weapons fully upgraded. I've got quite the work cut out for me._

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [13:30]**

**Location: [8****th**** Floor – Valley of Lizards - Underground Hideout]**

"Kirito-sama, through this hallway, we should arrive soon." Vladm urged Kirito as he slashed down another Elven Thief.

"We're right behind you." Kirito replied, as he caught up to Vladm, executing a [Sonic Leap] to finish off the mob that Vladm was fighting.

"Kirito, enemy reinforcements are coming, what should we do?" Fate asked as she fended the attacks from three Theives. She swung her scythe in a full circle, pushing the mobs away, then disappeared in a burst of sparks. Charging behind the elves and pushing off the wall, Fate slashed her weapon three consecutive times, once on each elf. As the jumped into midair and landed kneeling after a somersault, the three Thieves that surrounded her shattered as she stood up.

_Well... I probably don't have to do much since you're swatting them like flies... Though I suppose these Elven Thieves are pretty low in level._

"We'll be fine, let's head in." Kirito finally decided, as he nodded to Vladm.

Walking into the heart of the temple, he attention was grabbed by a large stone tomb, which was inscribed with words of a language he did not understand.

"At the sunset of the unholy night, the traitor of the holy one will arise from his grave on the floor of his rank. Satan will imbue the betrayer with eternal darkness, and the damnation will be complete. Darkness will devour the origin of the unbelievers..." Vladm translated the text, which was apparently elven.

Kirito noted the quest update icon on his display, and pondered. "So if this is related to the Christmas event, I'm guessing a large monster is going to rise from the grave, to assault starting city."

"If that is the case, then the traitor is probably someone related to Christ, one who holds a rank in his believers... so that mean..." Fate's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden glowing of the stone tomb, as more words appeared.

"Kirito-sama, this is not elven." Vladm pointed out quickly.

"I recognize this writing..." Fate stuttered... "It's in an ancient language... It reads 'Data Corruption, Initialize Purge'. We must get out of here!"

As if on cue, the temple ceiling was suddenly covered in red hexagons, as SAO's system alert began to wail. The temple walls started to crumble, and the cracks appeared on the floor.

"RUN!" Kirito shouted, as the group headed for the passageway at full speed. Unfortunately their path was obstructed when a large pillar dropped in front of them, blocking off the passageway.

"Vladm, how do we get out?" Kirito asked. He saw that the red hexagons were rapidly expanding, and it devoured everything in its path, shattering the data into oblivion.

"The passageway just collapsed. We have one option left..." Vladm materialized a ceremonial staff that Kirito had not seen before.

"Systemcall - Corridor - Open!" The wood-elf chanted as he lifted his staff, and pushed Fate and Kirito into the portal as it opened.

As Kirito's vision faded into the portal, he could see Vladm's smile as the red hexagons approached his former NPC servant.

"Please live!" Kirito thought he heard the elf's last words, as he screamed towards his comrade.

**"VLADM!"**

**Author End Notes:**

RIP Vladm, you defended your honor until the end.

Kirito has suffered his first major setback, as not only did he not catch Finarfin, he lost a valuable comrade... (granted, an NPC, but with Kirito the way he is, a comrade is a comrade regardless of being NPC or now.)

Another clue has been revealed about the Christmas boss, and I'm sure you all more or less know what's going to happen now. The Christmas quest isn't over anytime soon, so don't hold your breath.

On the other side, the girls have finished their costume quest and gained a new valuable skill. Now they can continue preparing for the concert and contest. Lisbeth looks to be getting even busier, with more than 200 refines to perform in a short period of time. (Lucky for her, SAO refining doesn't hurt her hands.)

Anyways... next chapter will be MORE INFORMATION! (Please don't kill me...)

(Mainly the group settings, rehash of rules, character information / equipment etc. Hopefully this will mean that the next chapter will come out slightly sooner... we'll see... lol)

**Cheat Notes:**

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 9428 (+? players)

Non-Canon Characters:

Aki 30

Mika 15

Fate 24

Eclair 25

Aixen 25

Vendette 25

Lancel 25

Zevela ?

Yunda ?

**Characters:**

_Kirito's group: 25 + himself:_

Kirito 30

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 27

L18 [Kings Broadsword 4H4S4D] 15/15

[Bullish Shield+9]

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L18 [Gale Fleuret 3A5Q] 9/9

[Boots of the Hornet]

Silica 27

L18 [Razor Sting 4Q4S] 9/9

Lisbeth 26

L20 [R. Steel Hammer 4H3D] 8/8

Argo 23

Klein 27

L18 [Bull Slayer 4S3D] 9/9

Agil 27

L20 [Battleaxe 3H3D] 9/9

[Taurus Backshield+5]

Sachi 25

L20 [R. Steel Longsword 3S3D] 9/9

[Kiteshield]

Keita - 24

Tetsuo - 23

Ducker - 23

Sasamaru - 23

Nezha - 23

Other 'Legend Brave' 20-25

Other Fuurinkazan 23-26

/Lynd (DDA) - 26

Other DDA 16-25

/Diabel - 26

/Thinker - 24

/Coper - 25

/Kibaou - 23

Other ALF 16-25

Heathcliff - 28

Godfree - 26

Daizan (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	66. INFO - Christmas, Contest, Concert

**66 - INFO - Christmas, Contest, Concert**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**THIS IS PURELY AN INFORMATION CHAPTER! NO STORY AT ALL!**

**Q&A:**

Just a general response to those asking about the 'bugs' and 'changes'... I can't give too many of my cards away... but I can reiterate the obvious facts:

1.) This is technically the 4th iteration of the game, though the system should have been reset.

2.) For some odd reason, Kirito is having weird flashbacks occasionally.

3.) Rinko, Kayaba's assistant, interfered with the system in this instance.

4.) There is currently an 'anomaly' in the system, which took out Rinko.

5.) A system intrusion occured.

As to which cause created what effect, I'll lead it to your imagination, needless to say... things have gotten quite messy.

Reishin Amara: Kirito currently dual-wields, but cannot activate any skills from the [Dual Blades] skill tree. Read Ch.5 for hints as to when the skill will be revealed.

zinmaster24: Thanks for the heads up, I'll message you probably a few floors up... [or you can just pm me your idea, and I'll keep it on file :) ] As for Lisbeth, don't underestimate her smithing skills... she'll have it done for the evening... (crazy I know, but if she's upgrading the same weapon she should be able to do 1 upgrade per 2 minutes...) Unfortunately I can't have Kirito angst for too long... otherwise I'd bore everyone to death... besides Vladm's still a very minor NPC character, so even Kirito shouldn't be overly attached to him.

FrostyMouse: Don't hold your breath waiting for me to explain the glitch, it's probably one of the last plot elements to be explored. There will be hints along the way, but the reveal will probably occur during endgame. As for the spell-craft, it only works on the elven-floors (Floor 3 -10) for now. None of the integrity knight stuff anytime soon (if ever... way too OP)... though I might make a nod during Alice's cameo.

2ndsly: And here is the summary :) Thanks for the heads up for the formatting issues.

Kojiro Kun: Kirito's currently on floor 8, having just failed to find Finarfin at the temple ruins. Currently there are two parts of the quest - finding Scrooge, and finding out what Finarfin's up to... The spells won't be usable above Floor 10, since it's game-breaking... For the record, the formchange quest has just started to circulate amongst the information brokers... so surely players will eventually find out about it.

Atrile: As I promised, next chapter will have the first match of the tournament. (This chapter is an info dump, so I don't consider it a full chapter...)

Now for those interested, read on. Otherwise see you next chapter!

**Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)**

**Christmas Quest:**

_Summary:_

_In the cloudless day of Aincrad, a magical sled soared through the sky, leaving a trail of white in the silent skies. Amidst the falling snow, a slip of paper falls into your hand, warning you of a Christmas tale gone horribly wrong._

_According to the note that fell from Santa's sled, he is currently on the verge of bankruptcy, as Scrooge has bribed Santa's elves into leaving him. Santa's original plans for releasing new weapons to the players have been destroyed, and Nicholas himself has become an alcoholic wreck._

_To make matters worse, Scrooge had decide to use his bribed elves to raid [Starting City], in order to cut cost while he takes over the economy. The note, signed by the Scrooge himself, asks for assistance from the [Elven Underworld], and plans to meet their leader at the [Usual Location] in six days._

_Objective:_

_You must stop Scrooge and his accomplices, and prevent the disaster on Christmas day._

_Current: Locate the [Usual Location]. (Hint: Elven Underworld)_

_Rewards:_

_New weapon and masteries made available if quest successful_

_All weapons will be priced at 10% discount_

_LA on 'Scrooge, the scrooge' will give item [Ring of the scrooge]_

_(Failure to complete quest will result in 'City Raid' on [Starting City] on 24__th__ Dec, mob level 5-20)_

UPDATE #1: (From Underground - Elven Theives Guild)

_**"At the sunset of the unholy night, the traitor of the holy one will arise from his grave on the floor of his rank. Satan will imbue the betrayer with eternal darkness, and the damnation will be complete. Darkness will devour the origin of the unbelievers..." **_

Concert:

**Time: **24 December, 19:00 - 23:59 PM

**Location:** 12th Floor - Polaris - Town Center

**Organizing Guild: ** Otome Alliance

**Entrance Fee: NONE**

** (Food and drink for sale at site)**

**Concert Members: **Mika

Cocoa

Silica

Lisbeth

Éclair

Asuna

?

**Music: **Under preparation

**Costume: **Costume skill [Formchange] acquired. Purchasing Costumes.

Tournament:

_Basic Rules:_

_The first stage will consist of group matches, where players will duel those in their group in a round robin schedule. In each duel, the winner will gain 3 points, while the loser 0. In event of a draw, each player is awarded 1 point._

_In each group, the two best players will advance to the final elimination, where the players will be randomly placed in the elimination round. The winner will be crowned as the champion._

_Duel Format:_

_Duels will proceed with 'level compensated handicap', and 'death prevention' will also be engaged. _

_Duels in the first round will be 3 minutes long, utilizing the 'First Successful Strike' system. The winner will be the first to land a strike by destroying the opponent's defense or by landing an undefended strike. The winner may also opt to decrease the opponent's HP below 50% to win, and in the case where neither condition is met a draw is announced at the end of 3 minutes._

_Duels in the second round will be 10 minutes long, with the winner being the first to drop the opponent's HP below 50%. In the case where neither party is below 50%, the player with higher HP will be considered the winner._

_Restrictions:_

_All players are required to use melee weapons, and weapons may not be enhanced with status effects (stun, poison, etc.)_

_Projectile weapons are prohibited in the group matches, and in the elimination stage they are limited to 10._

_No items (restorative, buff, debuff, etc.) may be used._

_By popular request: Usage of [Extra Skill: Meditation] prior to a duel is also forbidden_

_(Please do not waste your time learning a skill that does NOT increase your chance of survival)_

_Participants are required to submit all weapons for appraisal prior to the match, and anyone using forbidden weapons will be automatically disqualified._

_Weapon and Sword Skill Usage:_

_Apart from the aforementioned restrictions, there is no restriction on weapon usage. Players are free to switch weapons mid-fight, as long as the weapons are registered. Furthermore, all sword skills are allowed (including skills with debuff effects)._

_Required Information:_

_Players are required to provide the following information: Avatar Name, Level, Guild (if applicable), Weapons List(subject to inspection), Skill List._

_Scheduling:_

_Players will receive notice of their group assignment by tomorrow morning, and equipment registration will begin tomorrow at noon. Please have all your information prepared for efficient processing._

_Entrance Fee and Winner's Reward:_

_Entrance fee is 15,000 col per player._

_For players reaching the 2__nd__ round, each player is awarded 5,000 col._

_The winner will be awarded 300,000 col_

_The runner-up will be awarded 200,000 col_

_Third place will be awarded 100,000 col_

_Fourth place will be awarded 50,000 col_

**Groupings: (Only listing significant characters)**

**A: Asuna, Kibaou**

**B: Aki**

**C: Lancel, Sachi**

**D: Dale, Lynd**

**E: Issin, Zevela**

**F: Agil, DBoss**

**G: Godfree, Keita, Yunda, **

**H: Diabel, Heathcliff**

**I: Beowulf, ToCuFrU**

**J: Éclair, Silica**

**K: Tetsuo, Trojan**

**L: Leafa, Kuradeel**

**M: Klein, Vendette**

**N: Aixen, Orlando **

**O: Haxor, **

**P: Coper, Fate, Kirito**

**Cheat Notes:**

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 94xx players.

Non-Canon Characters:

Aki 30

Mika 18

Cocoa 12

Fate 24

Eclair 26

Aixen 26

Vendette 26

Lancel 26

Zevela 28

Yunda 28

Characters: 

Kirito 30

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12

_(Unused) Orb of Light & Darkness_

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 5S3D] 12/12

_(Unused) [Bullish Shield+9]_

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 3A3Q2S1D] 12/12

Silica 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 3Q4S2A] 12/12

Lisbeth 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H4D] 12/12

Argo 23

L25 [Alloy Steel Claws 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Klein 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Agil 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 5H4D] 12/12

Sachi 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield+8] 12/12

Aki 30

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 1S5D] 6/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +5] 6/12

Fate 24

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword] 0/12

_(Unused) BA Series – Scythe_

_(Unused) BA Series – Zamber Greatsword_

_(Unused) Bardiche Assault – Gauntlets [Lightning Orb Embedded]_

Eclair 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 2Q3S2D] 12/12

Aixen 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q4S] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q3S] 12/12

Vendette 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 3H2S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 2H2S5D] 12/12

Lancel 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7H1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Zevela 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Tanto Dagger 7Q1A] 12/12

Yunda 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 8Q] 12/12

Coper 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Diabel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Kibaou 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Grande Buckler +7] 12/12

Lynd 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 6S1A2D] 12/12

Heathcliff 29

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S6D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Godfree 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 8H] 12/12

Kuradeel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 7S] 12/12

Keita 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Staff 3H4D] 12/12

Tetsuo 24

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H2D] 12/12

Beowulf 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S4H] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Orlando 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S3A] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Issin 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Bident Spear 5Q2A] 12/12

Dale 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 6H] 12/12

ToCuFrU 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Axe 8H] 12/12

Trojan 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Haxor 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

DBoss

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

Mika 18

Cocoa 12

Ducker (BCoFM) - 24

Sasamaru (BCoFM) - 24

Nezha - 25

Other 'Legend Brave' 22-27

Other Fuurinkazan 25-27

Other DDA 22-27

/Thinker (ALF) - 25

Other ALF 21-28

Daizan (KoB) (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17


	67. Anticipation & Surprise

Anticipation and Surprise

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Notes:

Just re-read 'Cradle of the Moon'... for some odd reason it never fails to make me feel completely miserable... Kirito's such a sinner... I almost feel like giving him a 'Bad End'... lol

(Too bad there's no way of bringing Royne over into the fanfic...)

Q&A:

A Jack Frost Guy: Let's say you might be surprised. In keeping Aki consistent with being the 'mysterious face', he'll be matched with stormtroopers ;)

2ndsly: I agree that it's odd as well... though I'm going for the 'odd for a reason' explanation in a few chapters down the storyline.

.9: Hopefully within 10 chapters Kirito will meet the rest of the group... (Going to have to finalize Leafa's reaction by then...)

FrostyMouse: Well, I wouldn't say sidestepped... Simply put, the orbs aren't going be used because.. 1.) Lightning orb causes paralysis = disqualification 2.) Orb of Light&Dark won't be used because Kirito won't want to 'cheat'... which I think is consistent of Kirito's character. As for the profits, I really don't want to start on the accounting, but I'm pretty sure they're making some money to feed their troops.

Bladedknight: She'll be well over Lv.25 by the time she enters the tournament. I've revised the notes to reflect the fact that she's not using (or even received) the weapon yet. Thanks for the heads up... (completely forgot that Ch.66 was going up before this one)

Guyy: Kirito hasn't really done much intense fighting lately, and the mobs are of a lower level, that is why he hasn't leveled.

Kojiro Kun: Now watch me throw everything for another spin just for the sake of it... lol... J/K (I'd probably end up confusing myself... timing the events is already giving me headaches...)

NOW FOR THE STORY!

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [14:00]**

**Location: [8****th**** Floor – Elven Encampment]**

Kirito pounded his fists into the ground in agony, unable to come to terms that Vladm lost his life saving him.

"WHY! That didn't have to happen..." Kirito's rasping voice echoed in the Elven grounds. Their plan to capture Finarfin had failed, and Vladm was lost as a result. To make things worse, it was not due to an ambush or event, but an unexplainable error in the system.

Fate stood silently beside Kirito, understanding that it was probably best to stay silent, as the boy cried out in frustration. Lightly placing her hand on Kirito's shoulder, the twin-tailed blonde patiently waited for Kirito's crying to subside.

The sound of a portal activating was what brought Kirito back from his angst, as he watched Kizmel walk out. Her two men were missing, and her armor was severely damaged.

"Kirito-san, I'm glad you returned safely." Kizmel's first words caused Kirito to shake violently.

"I returned safely, but Vladm... I got Vladm killed..." Kirito quietly said.

"I see..." Kizmel replied calmly, as she took out her sword, pointed it at the floor, at the sky, then lowered her head as she put her sword back in the scabbard. As the three walked inside the tent, Kizmel turned to a disheartened Kirito.

"Kirito-san, there is no need to be saddened by Vladm's passing, his quest on this castle of Aincrad has been completely, and he has moved to a higher plane than that of Alfheim. Being able to protect you would have been Vladm's greatest honor, and there is no doubt that he will await for you at the Halls of Mandos. For now though, we must continue onwards, lest Vladm's sacrifice be in vain." Kizmel said as she took out a piece of parchment.

"Did you find any information before you encountered the enemy?" Kirito asked, as he finally regained his composure. Even though Vladm was an NPC, Kirito thought of him as a real companion, and it would not be easy to recover from losing him.

"Yes, we have recovered letters of the correspondence between Finarfin and Scrooge, it would seem that both of them have decided to meet on a certain upper floor." Kizmel answered.

"That's the information we also got. Do you have any other information?" Kirito continued to ask as he noted his quest update icon flash.

"We also found this." Kizmel passed Kirito a piece of cloth, and as expected it was etched with a [Dark Symbol]. "As well as several ancient scriptures about resurrection..."

Kirito held his head downwards in thought, going through the information that was provided to him from Kizmel and the quest log.

Suddenly he noticed Fate tugging at his shirt, pointing at Kizmel. Kirito snapped out of his thinking and turned his attention to the Elf.

"Kizmel-san, what are you plans right now?" Kirito asked.

"I am not sure, at this point I am planning to return to the castle and speak to the Queen. However a small issue has arisen..." Kizmel lifted her hand and chanted. "Teleport, [Decium Grande]!"

Surprisingly, the familiar blue light that should have encompassed Kizmel did not appear, and the Dark-elf lowered her hand.

"As you can see, it would seem that something is interfering with out magic, preventing us from using teleportation. It would seem that only certain incantations are prevented though." Kizmel said as she pointed at Kirito. "Systemcall - Generate Aerial Element... Burst"

Kirito panicked as he frantically dodged as a burst of air flew past his head, disappearing into the woods. Through the corner of his eye he swore he saw Kizmel make a mischievous expression.

"What was that for? That was dangerous!" Kirito yelled as he freaked out.

"I see that you've finally returned to your normal self, the risk was worth it afterall." Kizmel replied as she showed a smile. "Now, let us return to the task at hand."

_So she was worried about me as well._ Kirito suddenly realized, and felt slightly ashamed for his lack of composure.

"Now that we have no means of teleporting back to the castle, we have no choice but to traverse the lands by foot. Unfortunately, as you know, this floor's guardian has yet to be defeated." Kizmel looked at Kirito, who knew very well the danger of the floor boss.

"How many will we have to combat [The Great Blue Dragon] of this floor?" Kirito asked.

"Unfortunately, the two men that were with me perished during our raid of the hideout. So with our remaining troops we can manage twelve people in total, furthremore six will only be able to provide long-range support." Kizmel replied with a frown, "Our previous attempt to defeat the dragon gave us a detailed report of its behavior, but even with that our assessment recommended at least 36 people to guarantee a success."

"So we're looking at one third of the chance... guess we have no choice but to take it though." Kirito looked at Fate, "Besides, we've gained a powerful ally."

"Indeed, the two of you possess the destiny of the seven orbs, so there is no question about your strength. Actually, the fact that Fate-san possess the 'Orb of Lightning' is very convenient, as the Blue Dragon is said to be weak against lightning." Kizmel materialized a book and placed it on her table, motioning the two to look at the book.

"Our priests have been trying to decipher the ancient language, which contains the reference to sorcery that Kirito-san has obtained. Apart from your Oblivion and Genesis, there are also other spells. The ultimate freezing spell Niflheimr, the incineration spell Muspelheim, for wind - ultimate vacuum, and finally for lightning..." Kizmel took out a stack of papers.

"So far, our researchers have been able to extract half of the incantations, but it does not look like we will be able to use it in actual battle until the next year."

All of a sudden, Fate grabbed the book from the table, surprising the Kirito and Kizmel with her actions.

"I... I recognize the writings..."

"You mean Elven? I'm surprised that a human would understand our language..." Kizmel commented.

"No... not the translated portion, but the original..." Fate responded.

Kirito was shocked again, it was the second time he had heard that from Fate, the first being the time when the mysterious letters appeared on the tomb in the temple. Looking at the book, Kirito quickly realized that the writing was definitely not one of the languages he had ever seen, online or in real life.

_Just where is this girl from? _Kirito couldn't help but wonder.

As Fate recited words in an unknown language, Kirito and Kizmel stared at her in silence. The next noise that occurred was a system alert, followed by a pop-up message that appeared in front of Fate.

"Kirito, it seems I've learned a spell... it's called 'Thunder Rage'." Fate announced, and Kirito looked at Kizmel.

"Astonishing, that is the name of the elemental sorcery of lightning. It is almost unbelievable that such coincidences could exist." Kizmel exclaimed.

_Almost too convenient, even for an event quest. It's almost as if the Cardinal system was actively monitoring our progress._

All of a sudden, an image surfaced from Kirito's mind, a small girl with long hair, wearing a white dress, reaching her hands out towards Kirito.

_Huh? ... Yui... Who is that? _ Kirito was stunned for a moment as he tried to recall the fragments that had disappeared from his mind.

"Kirito, did you just say something?" Fate asked, looking at Kirito with concern.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was dozing off..." Kirito gave a nonsensical reply, which did not go by unnoticed.

"If you say so... I think we should get some rest before fighting the boss though. What do you think Kizmel-san."

"I agree, we will meet later tonight to travel to the town closest to the labyrinth area, and tomorrow morning we shall proceed. I have made preparations in the camp for your stay, in the meantime feel free to travel around." Kizmel gave orders to her men, then exited the tent.

"Kirito, I think you should have some rest, you probably need to sort out your thoughts, especially after what we experienced earlier, since it might cause PTSD." Fate said as he led Kirito out of the main camp.

"What's PTSD?" Kirito asked, he had heard of something like that before, but it didn't seem like a gaming term.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Basically causes you to have nightmares and flashbacks... not much can be done, but rest is the first priority now." Fate replied.

"How do you know all this?" Kirito asked with surprise.

"I'm not sure, but it just know. My guess is that whatever caused my memory loss, it only affected my 'memories' and not my 'knowledge'... though I am not sure of the distinction myself." Fate answered with little confidence. "Anyways, you need to get some rest now. If you try to go outside to level, I'll stand guard outside your room to make sure you don't leave."

Kirito grimaced as his thoughts were read like a book, but decided to follow Fate's suggestion to rest inside the tent. As he sat on the makeshift bed, for once he felt mentally tired, and he realized that he was taking Vladm's death much harder than he thought he would. Closing his eyes, he allowed his tears to flow, recalling the short period of time he spend with the man that dedicated his life to serving him.

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [18:00]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Daylight Diner]**

"Liz-san, are you OK? You seem really tired..." Silica asked Lisbeth as she slouched down into her chair.

"A little bit, I think I just did something incredible..." Lisbeth replied sheepishly.

"What did you do?" Mika asked enthusiastically.

"Oh... I leveled up by refining weapons. 300 upgrades today, 3000 hits... I'm glad that there isn't a thing as muscle aches, otherwise I'll be going through so much agony at this point." Lisbeth laughed.

"300 upgrades? Business must be really good for you then. I suppose it's partially because of the tournament too." Leafa said.

"Yup, but of the 300, 250 were from a single client - Lynd of the DDA." Lisbeth clarified.

"Lynd? Is he trying to make weapons for the entire guild?" Asuna asked.

"No, I upgraded 20 swords and Lynd's Scimitar. The swords were specifically made for the two elites, the double dragons... and talking about making specific weapons." Lisbeth manipulated her menu, and materialized a stack of weapons and equipment, putting them onto the empty table.

"I also made these weapons for us to use during the tournament, that way we won't be at a disadvantage. Don't even talk to me about paying, because the DDA paid me quite the commission." Lisbeth grinned.

"Thanks Liz! I was just wondering what rapier to poke Kibaou tomorrow with." Asuna smiled as she took the [Alloy Steel Rapier], "This one's remarkably light, yet it feels even stronger than the previous one."

"Thank you Lisbeth, I was thinking it was time for a new sword. My Broadsword was starting to fall behind." Leafa thanked Lisbeth, as she held the sword out and examined it.

"Thank you Liz-san! I'll take care of the dagger." Silica twirled the dagger around her fingers and put it into the sheath.

Lisbeth smile, then looked at the three remaining girls that looked slightly uneasy.

"Don't think about it too much, just take the weapons already. I wasn't that much of a deal, and if we go on another quest I'd rather you using the best equipment that I can make." Lisbeth said, as finally the three girls took the items.

"Thanks Liz, I owe you one!" Mika replied cheerfully.

"Thank you Lisbeth-san..." Cocoa carefully took the dagger and put it away.

"I'll cherish this weapon Lisbeth, thanks. Just one thing though..." Éclair was cut off by Lisbeth, who seemed to have read her mind.

"Use it in the tournament, I want you to fight everyone without a handicap. That's what everyone wants as well" Lisbeth said, as the Asuna, Leafa and Silica nodded their heads.

"In that case, I'll make sure I don't disappoint you all." Éclair nodded in agreement.

"Now! Let's eat, practise, and get a good night of sleep. Don't want to be late for the tournament right?" Lisbeth energetically cheered, as she called over the NPC waitress.

"Hey! That was my line..." Mika pouted, and the girls started laughing together.

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**[Date: December 19, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [21:00]**

**Location: [8****th**** Floor – Elven Encampment]**

Waking up from his slumber, Kirito felt slightly better over the events that happened, though he was still upset that Vladm had been lost.

_Even though it was probably a scripted event, I wish there was something that I could have done to prevent it..._

Suddenly, in the direction of the forest, Kirito heard a familiar voice, singing in the silent sky.

_(Author Note: Credits to source of japanese lyrics, translations may not be correct as it's a combination of babelfish and looking at literal translations, and a little twisting of words to fit the situation...)_

行き場の無いこの不確かな空

Under this uncertain sky with no way out (nowhere to go)

最後の言葉も聞けずに飛んだ

Unable to hear the last words before I flew away...

胸を塞ぐ特別な色

The colors that suffocate my heart,

時に影、時に夢、時には愛を  
Sometimes darkness, sometimes hope, sometimes affection

記憶の欠片が 大切に思えたら

The small shards of recollection, become important memories.

ささやかな勇氣に變わって

Slowly become courage.

Kirito listened silently, recalling the short but eventful memories that he had with his sworn guardian. Vladm was an NPC of few words, but he was a loyal companion. Thinking back to his last words, Kirito realized that the best way to repay Vladm's sacrifice was to move forward an continue to survive.

As Kirito's thoughts returned to reality, Fate's singing had subsided, and the girl was looking at the swordsman. Kirito smiled awkwardly he walked over to the girl, sitting down on a rock beside her.

"Kirito-san, are you feeling better?" Fate was the first to break the silence.

"I little, but I suppose I can't stop now, otherwise I'd be letting Vladm down."

"Just don't push yourself too much." Fate said in a concerned voice.

"I'll be fine, I can't mope forever... How about you, were you unable to sleep?" Kirito looked at the girl who seemed deep in thought.

"After you went to sleep, I went out to level and returned to have small talk with Kizmel, it would seem that they have no idea why I appeared on the 7th floor either. After the talk, I was quite tired so I came here for a change of scenery. Didn't expect you to catch me during an embarrassing moment." Fate replied.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I just heard your voice so I came over." Kirito apologized.

"It's okay... I'm just not used to people hearing me sing... I usually only do it when I'm alone." Fate quietly replied as she shyly lowered her head.

"It's a shame, since I like listening to your songs." Kirito said.

"Kirito, you have a tendency to say embarrassing things with a straight face, don't you?" Fate said as she walked past Kirito, heading back to the camp. "Anyways, break time is over, Kizmel's probably waiting for us to get going."

Kirito looked at the girl with a puzzled expression, then followed Fate back into the campgrounds.

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**[Date: December 20, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [08:00]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Central Arena - Tournament Venue]**

The streets were packed with people from all floors, and a long line of people formed heading into the arena grounds. At the entrance the organizers were collecting tickets from people who wished to see the fights, and occasionally a player would walk around trying to upsell tickets to players that failed to purchase at the regular price.

"It sure is busy today, I'm surprised that the tournament became such a large event. I'm all pumped up now." Leafa said eagerly, as she gripper the hilt of her longsword.

"Don't get too excited now, you're match is in the afternoon." Lisbeth reminded Leafa, then she looked at Asuna. "Talking about pumped up... Asuna? Are you still there?"

Asuna remained silent, emitting a ferocious aura. It had been a while since she desired something so much, and at this moment she wanted nothing more than to try her newest Sword Skill, [Star Splash], on cactus-head.

"Oh, I see her... Éclair-san! Good morning!" Silica called out to the girl with red hair, who was holding a container, likely filled with coffee.

"Good morning Silica-chan, are you ready?" Éclair calmly asked.

"As ready as I can be, I hope..." Silica replied nervously, as she and her dragon greeted Éclair.

"Sorry Pina, but the tournament doesn't allow familiars to provide assistance. You'll be cheering me on though right?" Silica asked the dragon, which purred in response.

"Lisbeth, thanks for making me the sword, I'll do my best to win with it. Asuna-san, Leafa-san, promise me you won't hold back during the finals OK?" Éclair grinned at the two girls as she held out her fist.

"I'll do my best..." Leafa replied as she lifted her hand and knocked Éclair's fist.

"Don't worry, I never hold back..." Asuna replied as she lifted her hand to meet Éclair, "not even for the guy that I'll be facing in the next match."

Éclair noted the abnormal aura that Asuna was giving off, and quickly changed the subject. "Anyways, Mika messaged me to ask if you wanted to eat lunch together. I'm guessing our afternoon practices are cancelled, but our evening practices are still on."

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Mika all morning, do you know where she went?" Lisbeth asked.

"Mika-san and Cocoa-san are helping with the tournament backstage arrangements. It seems that the ALF and DDA employed them to help with catering to the guests and players, as well as the setup and running of many of the shops." Silica answered.

"So she's helping the tournament, and arranging the dance and concert, she must be busy. What a person." Leafa commented.

"I must admit she's very capable, I doubt I would be able to deal with all those things at the same time." Asuna agreed.

"I think Asuna-san's really capable as well, being able to lead us in the floor boss raids."

"Yeah, have confidence in yourself Asuna."

"I never said I wasn't confident of myself, it's just that I don't think I'm proficient in that field of things." Asuna retorted.

"Well, everyone has their strengths. One thing's for sure though, our combat strength will be measure in the next few days. Let's do our best!" Éclair exclaimed, and if on cue, Diabel, Thinker and Lynd stepped on the presenter's stage as the players fell into silence.

"Players, welcome to Polaris, and welcome to Aincrad's FIRST PvP Tournament!" Diabel's shout was responded with intense cheering and thunderous applause.

"Today, the best of Aincrad will be gathered here, to share our skills and techniques in glorious battle, and to reach new heights of combat proficiency. At the end of the tournament, the legend of 'Aincrad's #1' will be born, a symbol of the strength we players possess. We will not be defeated by the game, and we will continue to become stronger. This tournament will produce our first champion, and we will continue to produce more until this dreaded game is cleared, and we have obtained our freedom."

Another round of applause drowned out Diabel's introduction, and as the clapping died down Thinker and Lynd stepped to the front.

"At the end of the tournament, the ALF and DDA would like to warmly welcome all players willing to join our fight for freedom. Please do not hesitate to apply, as it is with your strength that we have lasted to this point, and your strength is what will keep us moving forward."

"Before the preliminary round begins, we would like to make an announcement. Due to circumstances, Rocco and Coper in group Q have retired from the tournament. As a result the two remaining contestants have been seeded to the final round. We apologize to those who wished to see 'The Black Swordsman' in action today, but rest assured that he will be facing competition worthy of his efforts in the final elimination round."

The whispering amongst the crowd during the retiring of Coper was quickly silenced by the mention of 'The Black Swordsman', and was subsequently replaced by a uproar of cheering, the audience obviously pleased with the arrangements.

"Now, at this point we officially announce the beginning of the tournament. May good fortune befall all contestants, and may the best player be victorious!"

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**Aincrad Standard Time: [08:25]**

Asuna stood at the side of the stage with her eyes closed, recalling the countless battles she had been in since the beginning two months ago.

In front of her, the operator of the stage began to input commands into the virtual terminal, customizing the layout of the stage and the format of battle.

(Author Note: The arena is a completely original design, set so that players are able to alter the physical characteristics of the dueling stage, as well as the rules for the arena.)

As the stage materialized, Asuna opened her eyes and observed the stage.

Covered in gravel, the arena became a barren square stage around 20m in length, there were no obstacles, and in the middle line was drawn into the ground. Five meters from the middle line, two circles were formed with different colored pebbles, indicating the player starting positions.

Asuna grinned as she looked at the stage, there would be no space to hide, and nothing prevented her from destroying her prey.

"Asuna-san, good luck!" "Asuna, be careful!" "Remember not to kill him!" Asuna nodded to the girls that were cheering for her, and slowly walked up the stairs which had formed leading to the stage.

Ignoring the wild applause coming from the crowd, Asuna focused on her prey, the Cactus-haired Kibaou from the ALF, the man who crossed her on countless occasions and never failed to get on her bad side.

The spikey-haired player was no less irritating than usual, with his squinted eyes betraying his conceit and arrogance. Wearing a fully upgraded armor, the man glared at the chestnut-haired fencer.

"Finally, time to settle the scores, I hope you bought insurance." Asuna smiled wickedly as she looked at the man.

"Hmph! We'll see about that." Kibaou spat, as he materialized his equipment.

Asuna was slightly surprised, due to the fact that the man had materialized a giant buckler along with his longsword. According to her information, Spikey was not shield user, often engaging in reckless attacks.

"Afraid of my attacks already?" Asuna smirked, as she looked at the man's hateful expression.

"Just get back in the kitchen already, then I might have something to be afraid of." Kibaou returned the insult, which caused Asuna to grip her rapier.

"Announcing the first match! Kibaou from the Aincrad Liberation Force, versus Asuna, guildless. Match will commence in 30 seconds, starting NOW!"

Asuna drew her rapier in a shrill ring, and got into position to attack. Her fury was slowly building inside her mind, waiting to be released. As the countdown reached 15, Asuna saw that Kibaou had yet to draw his sword, and a switch was flipped as she glared at his mocking expression.

_This man deserves a total, humiliating defeat. I'll take my time to finish him off._

She originally planned to finish Kibaou in one quick [Star Splash], but after the insult she changed her mind. As the timer reached the last few seconds, Asuna pointed her swords slightly upwards.

"3...2...1...0!"

Asuna dashed forwards, quickly closing the gap of 10m with her skill 'Shooting Star, which was blocked with Kibaou's [Grand Buckler]. Asuna quickly changed her path in order to prevent the man's counter-attack, but to her surprise Kibaou had not even drawn his sword.

Jumping a half-step diagonally forwards, Asuna aimed at Kibaou's right side, but to her disappointment her 'Linear' was also blocked by the buckler. Her earlier anger quickly subsided, as she jumped backwards and assessed the situation.

The buckler that Kibaou equipped was at least twice the size of a normal bucker, around the size of a large kiteshield. However, unlike the kiteshield that was narrow to allow the user to attack, this buckler was much wider, eliminating the chance of an opening.

"What's wrong, forgot how to fight?" Kibaou's voice was filled with arrogance, but Asuna maintained her calm as she understood the situation. She needed to create an opening, otherwise she might let her victory slip away.

Slowly strafing around Kibaou in a circle, she observed his movements. While slow, Kibaou was holding his bucker in perfect position, eliminating all possible openings while he faced her direction.

Charging forward, Asuna quickly jabbed her rapier forward than jumped sideways, trying to get around Kibaou's defenses, however her second jab was a fraction of a second too slow to be able to damage the man's HP.

Dashing away once her attack failed, the counterattack that Asuna expected did not occur for a second time. At this point, Asuna realized the tactic that Kibaou was employing.

"Not planning on attack Spikey? How gentlemanly of you, it doesn't suit your character." Asuna commented sarcastically.

"I have no need to dirty myself on weak women like you." Kibaou sneered.

"Perhaps I'll dirty my rapier with your blood then." Asuna replied with an icy voice, as she dashed forwards again.

At the point where she almost crashes into Kibaou, Asuna pushes to one side, as Kibaou follows her movement with his buckler. Suddenly, Asuna stomps her foot into the ground and jumps into the air, using one of her lesser known skills [Acrobatics]. She stabs her rapier towards Kibaou, as the man lifts his arm and barely prevents the rapier from impaling his head. Flipping over Kibaou's head, Asuna rapier lights up as [Star Splash] is activated, creating 8 stabs towards Kibaou at lightning speeds.

The clashes of Asuna's rapier were almost instantaneous, as eight sparks exploded on the orange-haired man's buckler. Kibaou had barely managed to turn his shield in time, as he kneeled down to block the attack.

Asuna smiled inwardly as she looked at Kibaou's HP, which had dropped slightly since she landed a hit on his arm. While it was not a critical hit that would end the match, she had breached his defenses, and found a way to land successive strikes on the otherwise untouchable opponent.

Taking another jump forwards, Asuna thrust her rapier upwards at Kibaou's face. As the man to lifted the buckler upwards, Asuna dived down towards the ground and launched several quick stabs at Kibaou's exposed feet, rolling away right after succeeding.

Despite her clothes getting soiled, Asuna did not pay attention as her sole focus was to win the match. She took another glance at Kibaou's HP, and the round timer which was ticking away.

_At this rate I might not make it in time. I'll have to take drastic measures..._

Increasing the distance to 5m, Asuna pointed her rapier towards Kibaou.

"Time to finish you off!" The chestnut-haired girl declared, as she drew back her rapier.

"You mean time to wash the dishes?" Kibaou replied, as his eyes showed killing intent.

Dashing forwards, Asuna jumped into the air as she activated her skill [Streak], a short-range AOE-skill that charged towards the enemy in midair, damaging everything in its path. The rapier glowed orange as it streaked through the air, and grazed upon Kibaou's buckler.

As Asuna flew past a defending Kibaou, she noticed the grin that appeared on his face.

"I got you now!" Kibaou declared

_Nope, I got YOU! _ Asuna got ready to dodge Kibaou's attack, expecting the man to attempt to slash her with the sword.

Asuna was surprised that the weapon that was used was not the sword, but the buckler itself. Changing to a roll, she rolled towards Kibaou's direction, barely avoiding his attack as the buckler slashed the air above her head. As the shield flew over Asuna, Kibaou's torso was left completely exposed and undefended.

_Finally, I've got you_! Asuna's thoughts flashed for a second, and she lighted up her rapier to finish off the man.

Under the red glow of Asuna's rapier, Kibaou's face was illuminated. His expression was of surprise and irritation, but it seemed that he was not surprised. Throwing away the thoughts, Asuna trust the rapier forward.

"KLANG!" Asuna was shocked at the results of her stab - a purple sign that protected Kibaou against her rapier strike. Now floating in mid-air after being bounced away by the recoil, only one thought was in Asuna's mind.

_IMPOSSIBLE!_

Author's Notes:

So finally, the long awaited Asuna vs Kibaou match has been revealed, and it looks like Asuna's in trouble. Why was Kibaou protected by the system purple message? Guess you'll have to wait to find out.

(BTW, anyone want to guess the secret behind Kibaou's purple screen?)

Kirito's not back yet, so he got the free-ride into the final tournament (poor Coper)... he'd better make it back soon though, otherwise ALF and DDA will be overrun by players demanding a refund.

P.S. I guess this chapter went overboard in terms of length again... I really need to get in the act of restricting my chapter lengths... lol

Cheat Notes:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 94xx players.

Non-Canon Characters:

Aki 30

Mika 18

Cocoa 12

Fate 24

Eclair 26

Aixen 26

Vendette 26

Lancel 26

Zevela 28

Yunda 28

Characters: 

Kirito 30

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15 + Orb of Light

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15 + Orb of Darkness

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

Orb of Light & Darkness

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 5S3D] 12/12

_(Unused) [Bullish Shield+9]_

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 3A3Q2S1D] 12/12

Silica 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 3Q4S2A] 12/12

Lisbeth 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H4D] 12/12

Argo 23

L25 [Alloy Steel Claws 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Klein 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Agil 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 5H4D] 12/12

Sachi 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 2S3Q3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler+8] 12/12

Aki 30

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 1S5D] 6/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +5] 6/12

Fate 24

**BA Series – Scythe**

**BA Series – Zamber Greatsword**

**Bardiche Assault – Gauntlets + Orb of Lightning**

_L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword] 0/12_

Eclair 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3Q3S2D] 12/12

Aixen 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q4S] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q3S] 12/12

Vendette 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 3H2S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 2H2S5D] 12/12

Lancel 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7H1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Zevela 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Tanto Dagger 7Q1A] 12/12

Yunda 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 8Q] 12/12

Coper 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Diabel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Kibaou 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Grande Buckler +7] 12/12

Lynd 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 6S1A2D] 12/12

Heathcliff 29

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S6D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Godfree 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 8H] 12/12

Kuradeel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 7S] 12/12

Keita 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Staff 3H4D] 12/12

Tetsuo 24

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H2D] 12/12

Beowulf 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S4H] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Orlando 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S3A] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Issin 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Bident Spear 5Q2A] 12/12

Dale 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 6H] 12/12

ToCuFrU 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Axe 8H] 12/12

Trojan 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Haxor 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

Mika 18

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler +8] 12/12

Cocoa 12

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Ducker (BCoFM) - 24

Sasamaru (BCoFM) - 24

Nezha - 25

Other 'Legend Brave' 22-27

Other Fuurinkazan 25-27

Other DDA 22-27

/Thinker (ALF) - 25

Other ALF 21-28

Daizan (KoB) (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

Floor Opening History:

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17

Groupings: (Only listing significant characters)

A: Asuna, Kibaou

B: Aki

C: Lancel, Sachi

D: Dale, Lynd

E: Issin, Zevela

F: Agil, DBoss

G: Godfree, Keita, Yunda,

H: Diabel, Heathcliff

I: Beowulf, ToCuFrU

J: Éclair, Silica

K: Tetsuo, Trojan

L: Leafa, Kuradeel

M: Klein, Vendette

N: Aixen, Orlando

O: Haxor,

P: Coper, Fate, Kirito


	68. 全力全開

**全力全開 **

_(Yes, I'm running two layers of puns for my titles now... running out of good ideas...)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**Announcement:**

Due to that irritating thing called 'real life', there's a chance that I'll have to slow down my release schedule _again_. (Between 10 hours of work, commuting, housework, spring cleaning, the cat... you know how it is... it's hard to concentrate and write sometimes...)

Anyways, if you don't see a release on the 'expected date', don't worry - I haven't put the fanfic on hiatus or anything... my brain just needs some time to cool down.

At this point I've just started Ch.69, it'll be a break of sorts, so don't hold your breath for hardcore action...

**Q&A:**

All questions about Kibaou should be answered in this chapter, so I won't respond. Send me a message if there's anything I didn't address.

Which ironically eliminates most of the questions... though I suppose I set myself up for that one...

Oh, and just to clarify, the purple box that popped up was the same type as the one that blocked Kirito's throwing picks when he fired them at Caynz in ep.6, (LN#8, Murder Case in the Area')... which I refer to it as the 'crime prevention code' activating.

guest: The main reason that I restrict my chapter size is so that I don't screw my personal life over... that and I don't end up with irregular releases... (though I suppose it's becoming irregular regardless of what I try to do...)

zinmaster24: I promise you that Coper's not the type that does charity for no reason... (besides, I can't have Coper become completely forgotten... after keeping him alive). As for Fate, she's getting another level-hack, just so that her level can climb back to 'normal clearer' status. (Whether it's to highlight her 'abnormalness', or whether it was just bad planning on my part, I'll leave that for you to decide.)

A Jack Frost Guy: Yes, Aki's getting a free-ticket to the finals, as are some others. (Can't think of enough meaningful matches... besides I have little plans to seriously develop Aki for now...)

FrostyMouse: For my personal interpretation of Asuna's fighting style, her main strength is her deadly criticals, coupled with her high striking speed. Working under that assumption, Kibaou's strategy is IMO valid.

While I'm at it, I'd like to clarify how I am currently ranking the character's fighting abilities:

Main group: Kirito Leafa (Asuna, Silica) (Lisbeth, Argo)

Extended group: Klein & Agil & Sachi - ~ Asuna / Silica

Other members - Lisbeth / Argo

The main reason I put Asuna below Leafa is because of her relative lack of combat experience, compared to Kirito's VMMO experience, and compared to Leafa's kendo experience.

Furthermore, at this point (very early in the game), Asuna has yet to fully master her forte - which is her precision and speed, that will come with time. At this point though, I would put her on par with the best ALF/DDA players, where equipment differences and tactics will determine the results.

I also have an idea where I'd rank the OC's, but I'm not revealing that yet...

Anyways... back to the story!

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

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**[Date: December 20, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [08:30]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Central Arena - Tournament Venue]**

Asuna sat on the floor dumbfounded, having been bounced back by a purple force-field that protected Kibaou from what would have been a critical strike.

_Impossible, what happened there?_ Asuna thought, as she looked at the man whom she loathed. She noticed that his expression was that of irritation, contrary to her expectation.

"Che!" Kibaou sneered in a quiet voice, then turned looked up and raised his voice.

"I have no intention to draw my sword against a woman like you. The match is yours." Kibaou's said loudly, ensuring that the audience heard his words. At the same time, the victory message popped up.

"Victor: Asuna! Time: 2 minutes 48 seconds"

Despite the announcement of Asuna's victory, the crowd remained silent. Most could not understand what had happened, as the victor was sitting on the ground while the loser was standing. It was a while before the audience began clapping, and the atmosphere was awkward at best.

"Hmph!" Kibaou turned around and walked down the stairs, leaving Asuna behind as she struggled to figure out what happened.

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"Asuna, are you OK?" Lisbeth was the first to ask Asuna of her condition as she returned to the resting area, Silica and the rest were also gathered to see how the girl was coping.

"I'm fine, but utterly confused. I understand that I won, but I have no idea how." Asuna replied.

"I don't know either... all I saw was that Asuna was about to land a hit on Spikey, and suddenly a purple field blocks the attack and bounces you backwards." Lisbeth replied.

"The purple field is the crime prevention code, which disallows damage to players within city limits, however it should be disabled during duels. Normally you should have landed the hit and then the system would confirm your win, and afterwards the prevention code would kick in." Leafa explained, as she put her hand on her forehead to think. "I'm not sure why it would cancel your attack."

"That's definitely not normal, do you think Kibaou is using a cheat or something?"

"I wonder..." Lisbeth said, as she thought of the possibilities.

"He's not cheating." A confident voice replied. Asuna and her group turned around to see a boy with greyish hair, wearing light metal armor and equipped with a sword and shield.

"Aki! What are you doing here?" Leafa was the only person to recognize the boy, who had partied with her for a brief period several floors back.

"I'm up next." Aki's response was swift. "Anyways, what Kibaou did was really simple. He pressed the 'forfeit duel' button before Asuna-san landed her hit, and since the duel was technically over, her attack was blocked by the 'crime prevention code', and the recoil sent her flying."

"Is that even possible? Wait... if Kibaou added the 'Forfeit dual' command to his quick-access menu during another dual, the option remains until replaced by another... So that's the reason he didn't draw his sword, he needed to keep his right hand free so he could access his menu quickly. Still... it could not have been a 'spur of the moment' thing... " Leafa exclaimed, and then she quickly stopped talking as she noticed Asuna's expression.

"Why that tricky little coward..." Asuna's rage had once again built up.

"Calm down Asuna, you'll get your revenge during the finals." Lisbeth rushed to Asuna to calm her down.

"I'll excuse myself for now, I hope to meet you in the finals." Aki said as he continued to walk towards the stage, leaving the girls in silence.

"Leafa, do you know that weird guy?" Lisbeth asked Leafa curiously.

"Sort of, Aki and I partied a little before I met you guys. He's quite a strange person, and definitely own-pace, but otherwise he's a nice person." Leafa replied, "I'm surprised that he'd show up here though, since normally he doesn't go to crowded places."

"Hmm... so he's another one to watch out for..." Lisbeth replied.

"More importantly, let's escort Asuna-san back to the waiting area, she's about to explode." Silica's pleading voice finally got Lisbeth' s and Leafa's attention, as they dragged the fuming fencer back to the audience stand.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At the other end of the arena, Kibaou walked back into the waiting room, where the two leaders of the ALF were waiting for him.

"Good job, Kibaou-san." Thinker greeted the man. "Though I believe that the taunting at the end was unnecessary."

"Well I did what you asked already, what else did you want me to do? Kneel down and beg for forgiveness?" Kibaou glared at the leader of the ALF with rage in his eyes.

"Kibaou-san, try to calm down. Thinker-san decided on this strategy because it was the best way for both the ALF and you. I don't think you would have appreciated getting humiliated and slaughtered in the first match." Diabel interrupted.

"What do you mean? So you expected me to be completely destroyed by that woman?" Kibaou turned to Diabel as he unequipped his armor.

"Unfortunately, that would probably be the case. As a matter of fact, amongst all of us the only Coper would stand a chance against her at this point." Diabel responded with a matter-of-fact voice, which irritated Kibaou even more.

"Nonetheless, you handled yourself admirably. Despite being unable to land a single hit on Asuna-san, you managed to hold off until the end without sustaining a crushing defeat. Furthermore, there is no doubt that the end of the duel gave the impression that you actually won the fight."

Kibaou stood in silence, as Thinker continued. "The only issue now is to deal with the players who may see us in a negative light afterwards, as some may be misinformed and thought that we were cheating. I have already sent a message to Argo-san explaining the method used, and that we did not exploit the system in any way."

"Now the only problem is what to do if we encounter Asuna-san in the finals." Diabel said, as he took out a piece of parchment. "Hopefully Kibaou-san will be able to defeat the other two players in his group, and with that we should be guaranteed four members into the finals. At that point, at least of us will likely encounter Asuna-san once more... or worse scenario, Kirito-san."

"In any case, we will need to prepare ourselves for a difficult tournament. I must admit that the DDA has done much better than us in terms of preparation, as they have already provided their two elites a set of highly refined weapons." Thinker added.

"Naturally, those in Asuna-san's group will have weapons that are on par with those, and that puts us at a disadvantage." Diabel continued where Thinker left off.

"Yes, so the first thing we need to do is prepare ourselves for upgraded equipment for the finals, and we will also need to train our contestants."

"Training? What for?" Kibaou asked.

"To win, naturally. Fortunately, we have just the person to do so. After the matches in the afternoon, we will return to the Black Iron Palace. I'll have Coper prepare a PvP training regiment. Now, let's prepare for the afternoon, we'll probably be busy." Thinker concluded.

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By the time the four girls reached the audience stand, Aki was already standing underneath the victory message, having won in a clean strike within 30 seconds. The crowd has finally gotten excited, and cheering was heard throughout the arena.

"Spectacular hit by contestant Aki, perfectly exploiting the post-swordskill lag. Everyone should take notes, it might save your life while you're on the field!" The commentator voice was one that shocked the bunch of girls.

"Argo?! What's she doing working as the commentator?" Lisbeth said out loud, as they looked over to the announcer's table where they saw Argo sitting beside Mika, with objects that resembled microphones in front of them.

"Oh, I just realized that we haven't introduced ourselves." Mika's voice boomed over the announcement system. "This is Mika here, leader of the Otome Alliance, one of the co-sponsors of this event, and beside me I have Aincrad's information specialist, name withheld. We are tasked to give you all the information you need about the upcoming battles, and what to look for. This tournament has the best players enrolled, and it's guaranteed that you will be learning something if you pay attention."

As the girls looked towards the table in surprise, Mika seemed to notice the girls, and waved to them as she continued.

"Now, the first match for group C will begin soon, let us go through the contestant information..."

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**Aincrad Standard Time: [10:45]**

The morning passed by very quickly, as the girls observed the fights. Each contestant was well prepared, and there were many moments that brought the crowd to their feet. In the first few matches, the results mostly went according to expectation.

After Aki's victory in the first group B match, Sachi defeated her opponent in group C; Lynd demolished his rival in group D; Issin, Agil and Diabel were victorious in groups E,F and H respectively.

Unfortunately, Keita lost by a hair against Godfree in group G, having lost the final head-on attack due to the difference in weapon power. Upon visiting him after the match, Keita seemed in good spirits though.

"It was a great fight." Was what Keita said, as the girls welcomed him back to the audience stand, though Lisbeth didn't miss the slight expression of disappointment in Keita's face when he was talking to Sachi, who won despite fighting a member of the DDA.

At this time, the girls sitting in the audience waited nervously, as the next match would be between two of their friends. The 'Feathery Dragon' sat on Leafa's lap, watching its master from a distance, as the first round for group J was about to begin.

At the side of the stage, Silica stood nervously beside Éclair. The two had decided to walk onto the stage together, but it seemed that the arrangement had the opposite effect of increasing the tension between the two.

"Now, the next two contestants are people who are very special for me, since the three of us are in the same group that will be performing together at the Christmas concert. Oh, and just a shameless plug - tickets are on sale and going fast. *cough* Anyways, please welcome our two contestants Éclair and Silica!" Mika's introduction was met with a tsunami of cheering, as the two girls walked to the stage.

"It's finally our turn, Silica-chan. Let's give it our all." Éclair smile to Silica as she walked up the stairs.

"I'll try my best." Silica replied tensely, as she walked to her own starting position. Taking a glance around, she noticed that the arena was packed, and she was not able to make out anyone from the crowd. She looked up at the girl who seemed full of anticipation, and realized that she now had no choice but to fight her friend in armed combat.

"Now before we start, just a little background as usual. As you may have already read, both fighters have an AGI-based fighting style, so you can be prepared for a fast paced match with plenty of action. Éclair's weapon of choice is the longsword, which will give her a range advantage, whereas Silica's dagger is lighter and faster. Don't even blink, or else you're going to miss out on the action. Countdown, START!"

Éclair and Silica drew their weapons out simultaneously, as the countdown began to tick. The two stared at each other intently, as they waited for the start of the match.

"3...2...1... ZERO!" The match started as the two players initiated their dash towards each other.

Éclair's dash stopped half-way, when she noticed that Silica had tripped on her first step. Watching her regain her balance and jump to the side, Éclair smiled inwardly.

_As I thought, she's nervous after all. I hope she recovers soon, because... I don't plan to hold back!_ Éclair bent her knees and dashed towards Silica, swinging her sword down as she approached.

Silica barely managed to parry the blow with her dagger, redirecting the long-sword's trajectory towards the left. Éclair immediately jumped backwards expecting Silica's follow-up attack to her right torso, but the attack never came.

Watching Silica assume a defensive stance, Éclair frowned.

"Silica-chan, you're not going easy on me are you?" Éclair chided the younger girl, as she charged forward with [Sonic Leap], barely missing Silica as she turned sideways to avoid the attack. Normally Silica would counter with a quick jab or even a sword skill, but today her movements seemed dull as she jumped backwards once again.

"Start counter-attacking, I know you're faster than this." Éclair's voice took on a stronger tone, as she charged at Silica once again, this time entering into close combat as her sword performed several swings at the girl. Under Éclair's torrent of attacks, Silica's movements became restricted, and soon the young girl's clothes were marked by the first red streaks.

"I can't..." Silica finally uttered her first words since the beginning of the match. Éclair looked at the girl, and saw that the hand holding the dagger was shaking.

"Why not? You can't be afraid of fighting me, not when you can fight a floor boss without hesitation." Éclair looked the girl in the eyes as she spoke.

"It doesn't feel right, I don't want to fight you... I can't..." Silica's voice became mumbled, as she switched her dagger to her left hand and began to manipulate the menu.

"STOP!" Éclair charged at Silica, forcing her to block the attack, before she could select the 'forfeit match' option, "I don't want out match to end this way."

"But I don't want to fight Éclair-san, you're a good friend and I don't want to fight you." Silica's was on the verge of tears, as she struggled to break the weapon lock with Éclair.

All of a sudden, Éclair realized the misconception that she had about Silica. _Perhaps Silica is a strong player, but that doesn't mean she enjoys fighting. Deep down she's still a young child who is still growing up and trying to fit in. How could I have missed that?_

Suddenly letting go of her strength, Éclair dropped her sword and allowed her to fall towards Silica. She wrapped her arms around the little girl, and apologized gently.

"Silica-chan, I'm sorry for getting so fired up about the fight, that I neglected how you felt. You must not like fighting friends do you."

"I..."

"It's OK, I know how you feel. I can't believe I've forgotten how much I used to dislike fighting. But it's OK now... just promise me that you'll try hard during the finals." Éclair apologized sadly, averting her gaze.

"Éclair-san..."

"It's OK, sorry, Silica-chan." Éclair reached to her menus, and scrolled to the 'forfeit duel' button. As she was about to press the button, her wrist was grabbed by a smaller hand.

"Don't..." Silica gazed at Éclair's sad eyes, "I don't want to end it this way either. It's not right to flee from a fight, either you or myself."

"But you don't want to fight me right? There's no need to force yourself." Éclair hesitated, realizing that she still wanted to fight Silica at her best.

"Will you forgive me if I don't fight to my best. I know it's impossible for me to think of you as an enemy." Silica asked.

"Will you be able to spar with me as a friend then?" Éclair finally realized what Silica meant, and asked the little girl for confirmation.

"Thank you Éclair-san..." Silica finally let out a natural smile, relieving her of all the previous tension. Releasing Silica from her embrace, Éclair picked up her sword and jumped backwards.

The two girls faced each other, as the previous tension had completely vanished. As the time counted down to the last minute, two girls raised their weapons - the real match was about to begin.

"Silica-chan, are you ready? Here I come then!" Éclair shouted as she bent her knees, smiling as she prepared to attack.

"I'm ready when you are." Spinning her dagger to a backhand position, Silica also got ready.

The resulting clash was on a completely different level from what was occurring before, as both girls dashed at each other at blazing speeds. The audience held their breath as they observed a 'casual spar' that was much more intense that they have ever seen.

Slashing down with a [Slant], Éclair quickly broke out of the delay by spinning her body, her hair obstructing Silica's vision. Drawing her sword inwards, Éclair thrust her sword out towards Silica, only to be met with nothing but air.

Without even looking up, Éclair rolled fowards as Silica rained down her 3-hit [Tri-Pierce], creating a dust cloud where Éclair was standing at. Quickly turning around Éclair activated [Salvage Fulcrum], which crashed 3 times with Silica's dagger.

As the sparks from the previous clash flew around, the two contestants began a furious exchange of blows. While Éclair had the advantage of reach and weapon strength, she was unable to deal a critical hit against Silica, who dodged most of the attacks in the nick of time.

With less than 10 seconds remaining, Éclair charged towards Silica at full speed, initiating an [Uppercut] that collided with Silica's dagger, and sending the girl into the air. Drawing her sword downwards, a red glow emitted from the sword as Éclair rocketed towards the sky with [Rage Spike].

Having dodged Éclair's [Uppercut], Silica performed a half-flip as she reached the apex and began to fall. She saw the red glow of Éclair's sword, and activated [Rapid Bite] as she spun in the air, spiraling down in a blue glow that seemed to multiply the hits of her attack.

A loud shockwave resulted in the red/blue collision, and many of the audience held out their arms to shield themselves. As the smoke cleared, the silhouettes of two players appeared, as the two players stood with their backs facing each other.

Two streaks of red glowed on Éclair's shoulders, and a large red line accented Silica's hip. As the red streaks disappeared, the duel result announcement popped into the air.

"Result: Double KO! Time: 2 minutes 59 seconds"

The audience's cheering exploded instantaneously, as the two combatants received a standing ovation.

Turning towards each other, the two girls walked over and shook hands, then jumped into each other's arms.

"You were wonderful Silica-chan, completely turned the tables on me." Éclair said as the patted Silica's back.

"I'm sorry Éclair-san... I know I shouldn't be holding back." Silica started to cry in Éclair's arms.

"It's OK. I got what I wanted anyways. You've proved to me that I shouldn't be judging anyone by their appearance. I'm pretty foolish for worrying about you aren't I, especially since I'm still a ways weaker than you."

"That's not true, Éclair's the reason that I was able to get over my hesitation."

"Don't get too complacent though, I'll definitely catch up to you, and if we do meet in the finals I'll be forcing you to fight me at your best." Éclair let go her embrace, and held her hand to Silica. "Shall we go? The others are waiting."

Silica nodded as she took Éclair's hand, as the two exited the stage together.

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**Date: [December 20, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [10:30]**

**Location: [8****th**** Floor – Outside Boss Room]**

_Well... I guess I'm missing out on the first two days of the tournament. Luckily they helped me in getting seeded. I guess I owe Coper another one... _Kirito thought as he stood outside the boss room.

"Kirito-san?" Kizmel's voice brought Kirito back from his daydreaming.

"Oh, I'm sorry... my thoughts wandered off for a while." Kirito replied.

"I understand you're worried about your comrades, but at this point we must do what we can. If they are not able to find any information about the conspiracy, then it will be up to us to save these lands." Kizmel's words took on a more serious expression than Kirito expected.

_Right, I should focus on the matters at hand. If Argo can't find the information, more than likely the quest is locked at a place where something needs to be done from these floors. I must prevent the city raid at all cost, it's the highest priority right now._

Looking at Kizmel, then Fate, Kirito nodded his head.

"Then we shall proceed as planned, Kirito-san will join us in the initial attack of [The Great Blue Dragon]. Fate-san will stay with our support group, and prepare the incantation. If all goes well we should be able to severely weaken the dragon with the sorcery, but if we fail we need to be prepared to escape." Kizmel warned.

"We won't fail... we can't" Kirito muttered, and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"I will need 15 minutes, please don't overexert yourself." Fate said to Kirito as she equipped an additional heavy chainmail.

"You too, if the dragon starts targeting you, abandon the incantation and escape, we'll think of another way." Kirito said.

"I'll be fine... I've been training my [Hiding] skill lately, so as long as it doesn't come too close I shouldn't be targeted." Fate responded.

"Well, I'll try extra hard to keep its attention then." Kirito nodded, then turned to Kizmel, who turned to her own troops.

"Men, the obstacle that stands in front of us is something we must defeat, for the sake of the many lives that lie at stake. I will not ask you to sacrifice your life, but remember what we are fighting for, and do not hesitate to do what is for the better good." Kizmel's talk was responded by cheers and salutes.

"Kirito-san, normally we should be protecting you as you are guests to our land. However, in this situation please forgive my inability to prioritize your wellbeing." Kizmel was cut off by Kirito.

"Don't worry about it, I don't plan on getting killed so easily. So how about we take out this dragon and head back?" Kirito smiled as he drew his weapons.

Opening the door to the boss room, Kirito returned to the chamber he had fled from 5 days ago. Gripping his two swords, Kirito recalled the movement patterns of the floor boss, as he and his allies got into their positions.

"Beware when its eyes glow, that's the indication of its [Vapor Stream], make sure to dodge the attack!" Kirito relayed to his allies, as he stared at the shadow of the dragon.

As Kirito warned, the dragon's eyes soon glowed red, and a burst of steam erupted from its mouth. Kirito recalled the first time he fell victim to its attack, and was glad that none of Kizmel's group were affected this time.

"Surround it! Make sure it doesn't use its [Vapor Stream]." Kirito yelled out simple commands, as complex commands were beyond the AI's programming and was ignored.

Dashing out at the beast with his right sword, Kirito activated [Horizontal Square] at the dragon, leaving four streaks of red around the dragon. Switching to his left, Kirito launched into the air with a slash, then somersaulted in midair over the dragon's head, landing another slash on its back and then dashing back for the final cut of [Vertical Square].

The dragon roared after taking the eight-hits, and its red eyes met with Kirito's. Opening its jaws, it lunged at Kirito with its open jaws, as Kirito dodged to the side. Exploiting the opening, Kizmel jumped in and executed [Reaver], cutting two marks on the dragon's neck. Kirito took this opportunity to jump onto the dragon's head and stabbed his [Darkblade] into the top of its head, into the skin close to its large center horn.

The dragon roared in pain as it lifted its head abruptly, throwing Kirito off its head. Doing a backflip and landing on a boulder, Kirito held out his remaining sword.

"FATE! The horn's the weakness, try to hit it there once you're ready!" Kirito shouted as he charged back at the dragon. He gaze met the girls eyes, and saw the girl nod her head slightly as she continued her incantation.

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Ten minutes later, Kirito stood out of combat, having switched with Kizmel for a potion rotation. The dragon was much more manageable with a larger group, even though progress was relatively slow compared to a full raid.

At this time, the 6 bars of HP on the dragon had its first bar almost at 50%, and Kizmel's group was doing fairly well against the dragon, with her men systematically launching their attack.

"Kizmel, get the archers ready! It's about to fly..." Kirito turned to Kizmel, who lifted her arm to signal her men. The fighters on the back lines quickly switched their spears for bows, as the dragon flapped its wings and began to leave the ground.

As Kirito looked at the dragon in the air, a sense of uneasiness crept into his mind. He thought it was weird since the group was doing rather well against the floor boss, but something about the dragon's attack patterns disturbed him.

_Odd, I remember when I fought the dragon, it also started flying after 10 minutes. But this time we've deal quite a bit more damage to it compared to when I was soloing the boss. What if the dragon's algorithm is not based on damage, but elapsed time?_

Kirito's thoughts were cut short as he noticed the dragon flying towards him with glowing eyes. Diving towards the floor, Kirito managed to escape the dragon's [Vapor Stream] again, as he watched the elven arrows pierce the dragon like rain. Unfortunately the arrows did little damage, and the dragon showed no signs of slowing down.

"Spread out! Aim for its belly!" Kirito shouted out, as he took cover behind a rock. While flying the dragon was beyond reach for any melee attack, and his throwing picks were too weak to damage it sufficiently. Watching the elves frantically try to counterattack with their bows, Kirito became frustrated with his inability to help.

_Darn it! There must be a way to drop the dragon from the skies. If I can't think of something, we'll be sitting ducks for another two minutes..._

Kirito looked around in the boss room, looking for anything that he could use, and noticed that there was a pillar that was leaning on the wall. Observing the dragon's flight pattern, an idea lit up in Kirito's mind.

"Kizmel! Have your men draw the dragon to the western wall." Kirito pointed at the wall where the pillar was lying at.

"Move west and draw fire!" Kizmel commanded, and Kirito got ready as the dragon was being lured towards the wall.

Dashing towards the wall, Kirito sprinted up the pillar and started wall-running upwards. As the Kizmel looked at Kirito in surprise, the boy jumped off and flew towards the dragon.

Activating [Rage Spike] in mid-air, Kirito utilized SAO's assistance to gain the extra height he needed, and landed on the dragon's back. Lifting his sword, he slashed both the dragon's wings with [Horizontal], and stabbed his sword on the dragon's spine as it suddenly dived towards the ground.

Kirito could barely hold on to his sword, as the dragon did a full inversion before hitting the ground, as it struggled to throw Kirito off its back. Materializing a spare longsword, Kirito held on to his sword that was anchored in the dragon, as he slashed at the dragon's wings with his inferior sword.

All of a sudden, the dragon starting flying upwards to the top of the room, and inverted to a full dive towards the floor.

_What the? _Kirito was shocked at the sudden change of the dragon's behavior, but quickly realized what the dragon was trying to do. By crashing onto the floor, both the dragon and Kirito would suffer damage from the impact, but since the dragon was larger it would hardly be damaged.

Cursing the AI's ability to adapt, Kirito stabbed his spare longsword into the dragon's wings, as he pulled out his [Knightsword] and jumped off the dragon.

"Heads up!" Kirito shouted as he watched the dragon plummet into the ground, causing a massive shockwave that blew away the elves that were defending. Kirito aimed his sword and activated an inverted [Rage Spike], ripping off the dragon's other wing.

The dragon roared, and suddenly started glowing red causing the raid group to make a safe distance. Kirito looked at the dragon's bar, and noticed that it still had 5 bars of HP left, nowhere near enough damage to trigger its rage mode.

"Everyone move back and regroup... there's something wrong!" Kizmel was the first give out a command, but it was too late.

Opening its mouth, a burst of steam errupted from the dragon's and expanded at an alarming rate. The entire group of Elves was quickly hit by the vapor explosion, sending most of the flying from the expansion of the steam. "Stun" and "Bleeding" icons appeared on many of the NPC's, as their HP dropped deep into the yellow.

Kirito slashed at the dragon with his sword, attempting to regain the boss' attention, but for some reason the dragon did not turn around. Kirito looked in the direction of the dragon's travel, and realized the dragon's target.

_Impossible, she hasn't done anything to attract its attention... _Kirito stopped slashing at the dragon's back and charged forward, placed himself between Fate and the dragon.

While the dragon was now much slower due to its lost wings and damage, it was still a great threat to the girl who was undefended. All it would take is one critical hit to disturb the incantation, and Fate would have to start all over. At this rate, it was doubtful whether they would be able to sustain the formation for another 10 minutes against the dragon.

Charging straight at the dragon, Kirito ignored the possibility that the dragon would attack him, and focused purely on attacking the floor boss. Lighting up his sword in a bright blue, his [Sonic Leap] stabbed the bottom of the dragon's throat. Without stopping he turned his sword upwards with an [Uppercut], and back down with a [Slant].

As the three red marks etched into the dragon's skin, the dragon turned its eyes towards Kirito. Opening its mouth, Kirito was hit by its [Dragon's Breath] as he jumped backwards. Shrugging off the pieces of ice that had condensed on his armor, Kirito charged in once more.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Kizmel and her men had recovered from the earlier stun status, despite the fact that their HP was still recovering from yellow.

"Kirito-san! What should we do?" Kizmel charged in a blocked the dragon's slash that was aimed at Kirito.

"We'll need a defense line, have you men shield Fate from the dragon, and get your support group to go around and attack the dragon's back." Kirito ordered, as dodged the dragon's other claw.

"Understood!" Kizmel jumped back towards her men, and quickly assembled them in front of Fate, holding out their shields.

At the same time, the dragon let out a great roar, and its body started to glow blue. Kirito recognized the aura and immediately jumped backwards.

"SHIELD!" Kirito yelled as he held his hand to Kizmel, and the elf responded by throwing him her [Kiteshield]. Kirito dropped his sword and immediately stabbed the Kiteshield in the ground, as he completed the arrowhead formation that shielded Fate.

Not a moment too soon, the entire dragon's blue aura disappeared as it opened its jaws. The resulting attack [Tidal Blast], [The Great Blue Dragon's] ultimate attack, clashed with Kirito's shield mercilessly.

_30 seconds left..._ Kirito thought as the enemy's attack assaulted his shield like a tsunami.

Despite blocking the attack, Kirito saw his HP drop rapidly from the green down to yellow. His feet were also losing grip despite entrenching his shield into ground as an anchor.

"ARGH!" Kirito heard one of the men behind him get blown off his feet, as he was swept away by the tsunami. Biting his teeth, Kirito pushed forwards with all his might to allow the defense line to reposition themselves.

All of a sudden, the kiteshield that Kirito was using shattered, and he was swept away by the attack, crashing into the elves that formed the second line. Kirito looked at his allies, and saw that they all suffered the same status ailment as he had - paralysis.

_NO! We failed... _despair swept through Kirito's mind as he searched for Fate's whereabouts, expecting her to be blasted away like everyone else. To his surprise he did not see the girl lying with the rest of the group.

"_Raikō Issen_雷光一閃..." A voice echoed in the air, and Kirito looked up above at the girl that was gliding through the air above him.

As the chainmail shattered around Fate's body, her [Zamber Greatsword] materialized in her right-hand. Electricity surged through the sword, causing the pitch black sword to emit a blinding yellow glow, as streaks of purple plasma arched from the blade.

Grabbing the sword with both hands, Fate suddenly disappeared from Kirito's view as she flew towards [The Great Blue Dragon].

"...Systemcall... THUNDER RAGE!" Fate's command echoed throughout the boss room like thunder, holding her sword high over her head. The ball of lightning which surrounded the girl now condensed into the length of her blade as she brought it down on the dragon's head.

Slashing the same spot where Kirito stabbed his [Darkblade], the electricity that was concentrated on Fate's greatsword surged into the dragon, causing it to let out the loudest roar yet.

Soon the entire dragon's aura went from blue to yellow, as the electricity engulfed the monster's body. Streaks of static bounced off the body, and destroying everything it collided with.

Finally, in a flash of yellow, Fate's greatsword slashed through the dragon's head, as the girl landed in front of Kirito. As she turned around, the Dragon's silhouette glowed blue and disintegrated into a shower of polygons.

"Good Work (お疲れ様)... Let's move on? "

Smiling at an stunned and exhausted Kirito, Fate reached out her hand.

**Author's Notes:**

I suppose some of you are probably fuming at the way the 'immortal object' trick played out, but at least in my opinion it would be the best solution rather than have Kibaou be completely harmless and a clown of no value. While reading the comments, I was surprised that many were thinking along the 'hacked' route. Honestly I didn't even think about the possibility of that... maybe I missed a good opportunity? (and NO, I didn't write the story like this to troll people... since I'm actually a chapter ahead for once... OMG)

While the ALF was able to (sort of) save face, it didn't change the fact that Kibaou lost, so they're in a bind to get caught up in the tournament. With Coper out of the tournament, and Kibaou losing their first match, Diabel's going to have to pick up the slack... won't be easy with Heathcliff in his way though. (Breaking down the 4th wall, it's already a foregone conclusion that the OC's will be in the finals... lol)

Now, Asuna lost quite a bit of face in the match, so you can bet she's going to get revenge in the finals right? Éclair and Silica's heartwarming spar also ended up in a draw... but maybe it's for the better... things might chance if/when they meet in the finals though.

On Kirito's side, FINALLY they've defeated the 8th floor boss... (At the same time, a new floor boss 'format' was discovered... aka 'Survival Mode')

Hopefully after this chapter, there will be no doubt as to whether I'll be keeping these game-breaking spells for the upper floors... LOL...

One hit took out 5 bars of HP, whereas the entire gang only took out 1 bar of hp in 30 minutes. (Technically, I suppose the attack would be classified as a 1-hit kill...)

(Yes... I know it's not MGLN, but it doesn't mean Fate can't go全力全壞... though if I follow canon 100% only Nanoha does it... LOL... )

**Cheat Notes:**

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 8th)

Surviving Players: 94xx players.

Non-Canon Characters:

Aki 30

Mika 18

Cocoa 12

Fate 24

Eclair 26

Aixen 26

Vendette 26

Lancel 26

Zevela 28

Yunda 28

**Characters:**

Kirito 31

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15 + Orb of Light

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15 + Orb of Darkness

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

Orb of Light & Darkness

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 5S3D] 12/12

_(Unused) [Bullish Shield+9]_

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 3A3Q2S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 9Q] 12/12

Silica 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 3Q4S2A] 12/12

Lisbeth 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H4D] 12/12

Argo 23

L25 [Alloy Steel Claws 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Klein 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Agil 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 5H4D] 12/12

Sachi 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 2S3Q3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler+8] 12/12

Aki 30

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 1S5D] 6/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +5] 6/12

Fate 28

BA Series – Scythe

BA Series – Zamber Greatsword

Bardiche Assault – Gauntlets + Orb of Lightning

_L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword] 0/12_

Eclair 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3Q3S2D] 12/12

Aixen 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q4S] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q3S] 12/12

Vendette 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 3H2S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 2H2S5D] 12/12

Lancel 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7H1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Zevela 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Tanto Dagger 7Q1A] 12/12

Yunda 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 8Q] 12/12

Coper 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Diabel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Kibaou 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Grande Buckler +7] 12/12

Lynd 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 6S1A2D] 12/12

Heathcliff 29

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S6D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Godfree 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 8H] 12/12

Kuradeel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 7S] 12/12

Keita 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Staff 3H4D] 12/12

Tetsuo 24

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H2D] 12/12

Beowulf 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S4H] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Orlando 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S3A] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Issin 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Bident Spear 5Q2A] 12/12

Dale 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 6H] 12/12

ToCuFrU 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Axe 8H] 12/12

Trojan 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Haxor 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

Mika 18

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler +8] 12/12

Cocoa 12

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Ducker (BCoFM) - 24

Sasamaru (BCoFM) - 24

Nezha - 25

Other 'Legend Brave' 22-27

Other Fuurinkazan 25-27

Other DDA 22-27

/Thinker (ALF) - 25

Other ALF 21-28

Daizan (KoB) (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

**Floor Opening History:**

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17

**Groupings: (Only listing significant characters)**

A: Asuna, Kibaou

B: Aki

C: Lancel, Sachi

D: Dale, Lynd

E: Issin, Zevela

F: Agil, DBoss

G: Godfree, Keita, Yunda,

H: Diabel, Heathcliff

I: Beowulf, ToCuFrU

J: Éclair, Silica

K: Tetsuo, Trojan

L: Leafa, Kuradeel

M: Klein, Vendette

N: Aixen, Orlando

O: Haxor,

P: Coper, Fate, Kirito


	69. Intermission

**Intermission**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Notes:

OMG... I keep on 'seeing' scenes for Christmas day... wish I had a way to accelerate time to the day... but alas I mustn't rush things...

Q&A:

As expected, the reactions for the Kibaou-issue were split cleanly in two. Unfortunately, I have no intention on changing history... so please treat it as a plothax if you need to... (maybe in the next loop, if there is any...)

Atrile: I know... I'm failing to keep my word count down... ended up adding extra stuff after I read the reviews... (I have a bad tendency to do that... at least this chapter's slightly better... though personally I think this chapter's boring... and so is the next... Orz...)

zinmaster24: I'm going to develop Thinker slowly as we go along, hopefully at the end of this arc he'll be more established as an actual character. As for the points chart, it's at the end of the chapter... (man.. I wished I didn't have preliminary rounds... but too late now..)

Takei Daloui: The 1st round hasn't ended yet, the points chart is at the end of this chapter.

Tama Saga: Yup, Kirito is now official the highest leveled player (again.)

FrostyMouse: I'm just going to post the summary of what I pm'ed you so that everyone can see... and I added a bit to clarify the 'rules' which I will use for this 'tournament'.

Inside the 'special arena' (aka special plot device), the duels are regulated by a third party, who access a menu that controls the following:

1.) Duel conditions (1st hit / 50% HP / To the death)

2.) Other options are available (e.g. level handicap / death prevention)

3.) Stage terrain options (e.g. No obstacles [round 1], Obstacles present [round 2])

4.) Beginning of duel. (Commentator presses a button to start countdown, once two players are present)

5.) Manual termination of match. (Used when a outside system violation occurs, all 'hits' occurring after duel termination will result in 'attacker' being knocked back.)

Winning conditions (Monitored by SAO duel system):  
1.) 1st clean hit (or overwhelming hit), wins the duel  
2.) First to decrease opponent 50% HP, wins  
3.) If opponent forfeits, player wins.

Conditions monitored by staff members / umpires:

1.) Weapon violation (Unregistered weapons, status effects)

2.) Out of ring

3.) Abusive Stalling

_I might also add other conditions to the list as I realize that I need them... _

Bobbo: Now where do I start? First of all, I thank you for taking the time to read through all the chapters at once, as well as your 18 reviews. It's a shame that my writing style isn't to your liking and you feel it's clichéd and unprofessional. Unfortunately, as my first fanfic, written purely for my entertainment (and hopefully the readers), I won't be able to meet to your high standards. As for my usage of japanese within the story, I feel that certain sections are better expressed without translating into English, so I don't plan on changing it anytime soon. Similarly, my use of cliché and cheap humor may not be to your taste, and that won't change anytime soon either. If you do decide to continue reading this, I hope you don't get too frustrated... after-all, you're supposed to be enjoying the stuff you read right?

P.S. You brought up one issue that I think is worth addressing to everyone:

Cardinal system: (Changes from canon)

1.) In the LN, Kayaba talked about the revolutionary system that SAO employs which separates it from other VR games. In the fanfic, I took the liberty of assuming that he mentions the name of the 'Cardinal' system.

2.) In the fanfic, the Cardinal system has been corrupted, and will act differently. (Contrary to Caliber S.S. where the system is functioning NORMALLY, but just accelerated due to Marinca's screwup.)

Anyways... enough of me ranting now... back to the story.

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

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**Date: [December 20, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [11:00]**

**Location: [8****th**** Floor – Boss Room]**

"Sorry for the wait. Let's go!"

Smiling at an stunned and exhausted Kirito, Fate reached out her hand. The entire boss room has pretty much been destroyed by Fate's attack, apart from the areas that Kirito and the others were standing.

_Talk about total annihilation... _Kirito thought

Kirito grabbed Fate's hand, as she helped him get up. Looking at her with disbelief, he noticed the window that had popped up beside her. As expected, Fate got the majority of the xp from killing the floor boss, and as a result had once again leveled up multiple times.

A weird thought surfaced in Kirito's mind, and before he realized he reached his finger out and poked Fate's waist.

"Kyaa!" Fate let out a startled voice, then looked at Kirito with a flustered expression. "Kirito-_san_, what was that for?"

"Uh... just wanted to confirm you were a player and not some super NPC or something like that..." Kirito realized what he had done, and answered nervously.

"Well, does this prove I'm a human?" Fate showed Kirito the 'Anti-Harassment Screen that had popped up', and hovered her finger above the 'Yes' option.

"WAIT! I'm sorry... please don't press that..." Kirito held his hands together in apology.

"Come to think of it, this method would get you back to [Starting City], wouldn't it? That's what I was told at least... though you might be stuck there for a while..." Fate's face showed a mischievous grin, something that Kirito had never seen before.

"Uh... Please forgive me, Fata-sama? I promise I'll NEVER do that again." Kirito got on his knees as he averted his gaze.

"I'll trust you then. Please don't do that again OK?" Fate responded sweetly, though Kirito could see that her eyes were not smiling.

At this point the group of Elves had recovered, and they approached the two players.

"Amazing, I had no idea that ancient sorcery possessed such power." Kizmel exclaimed as joined the two, while brushing away the debris on her armor.

"Kizmel-san, tell me that these spells can't be used on other floors." Kirito begged Kizmel, as if something would break inside him if she confirmed the opposite.

"You are correct, these spells cannot be cast outside our lands. Furthermore, I believe there is a limit to using these spells in the first place. Fate-san, could you examine the [Orb of Lightning]?"

Fate opened the menu of her gauntlets, and as Kizmel predicted, the gauge on the [Orb of Lightning] was at 0 again. Kirito breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that.

"Why are you so glad, I thought you would be happy to have such a potent spell with your allies?" Kizmel asked.

"Well.. it's a long story, but let's say if I have a strong spell, the enemy must have something similar right?" Kirito answered.

"I sure hope not..." Kizmel argued, "Because if that's true, then we have an enemy with an anti-world spell to balance out your [Oblivion]..."

Kirito was shocked to the point where he could not speak.

"Anyways, the obstacle in front of us has been cleared let's get going. If we are lucky we may be able to access the teleport gate outside Gaia, but if that does not work it'll be at least another day until we reach [Decium Grande]." Kizmel said as she rallied her troops.

Kirito nodded as he thought about the quest.

_There's definitely something else that I missed out on, otherwise there would be no reason for Argo to be unable to find clues. I must get to the bottom of this before it's too late... I only have 3 days left._

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**Date: December 20, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Central Arena - Tournament Venue]**

Leafa flicked her hair with her left hand, setting her disturbed ponytail back to its original position. Her match had just ended in a single hit, and Leafa was slightly disappointed by the result.

_The hit probably could have been faster if I let the opponent's attack come closer. Oh well, a win is a win... not that it matters with small fry like those._

While Leafa understood that she had probably been used to fighting alongside the clearers, she couldn't help but be disappointed by the matches so far. Apart from Éclair's fight with Silica, the other matches were mostly one-sided affairs. She started to feel silly for losing sleep due to her anticipation.

_I hope I'll fight someone stronger soon._

On the side of the arena, a certain whiskered individual was busy typing away at her messages.

[Argo: Still no information about the quest, at least nothing outside the norm.]

[Argo: Look for graveyards or tombs on the 12th floor? OK, no problem]

[Argo: Coper's told me to tell you that everything's going smoothly. Geez, I don't understand what's with you two, just add each other to the friends list already.]

[Argo: I know about your rivalry, it goes way back to the beta right? And NO, I don't care about the anonymity of beta players, not with Kii-bou at least.]

[Argo: OK, I'll keep you updated. Try to get back as soon as you can OK? You're missing out on the tournament.]

"Argo-san, is there something wrong?" Mika asked Argo, watching the smiling girl type away at the keyboard.

"Nothing much, just messaging an important client." Argo replied, as she finished up her message with Kirito.

"Really? You seemed awfully happy there... is that your boyfriend?" Mika teased.

"No he's not... I can tell you who he is though... for a fee of 100K." Argo replied with a grin.

"So he's _that_ important to you... it's OK then, I won't ask." Mika smiled as she turned back to her announcement papers, leaving Argo flustered by the fact that she got one-upped.

"Now, next up we have Tetsuo from the guild [Black Cats of the Full Moon], facing him will be Trojan, from the guild [1337 Squad]." Mika announced.

"As you may have heard, the guild [Black Cats of the Full Moon] recently joined the clearing group in their efforts to win us our freedom. Please show your full support to them. Also a recent guild, the [NEET squad] is here to compete, we hope their players will eventually prove themselves to be a contributing group of players." Argo's tried to word her announcement to be as neutral as possible, but still the sarcasm came through clearly.

"Anyways... the countdown will start... NOW!" Mika quickly followed up to prevent Argo's words from affecting the mood of the tournament, pressing the button that began the countdown timer.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx

**Aincrad Standard Time: [13:15]**

Tetsuo walked back to the waiting area with a slightly dejected expression, as his guild-mates greeted his return.

"Tetsuo, great job!" Ducker jumped over towards Tetsuo and greeted him with a high-five.

"Uh.. thanks" Tetsuo's expression was less than happy.

"What's wrong?" Sachi noticed Tetsuo's expression, and asked in a worried tone.

"I couldn't land a single hit against the opponent... he evaded every single attack."

"Well, he wasn't able to take you out either, so you're even." Sasamaru remarked.

"Yeah, at least you got a draw, better than what I achieved." Keita comforted his friend.

"You fought Godfree to a tie, and only lost because he landed the last hit before you could do yours. My fight was completely one-sided, it was only due to luck that I didn't go below 50%." Tetsuo retorted in shame.

"Well, in that case, we'd better head out for extra training this afternoon. Sachi and I both have our next match tomorrow so let's make the best use of today." Keita suggested.

"We have to meet up with Klein-san to search the outskirts tonight though, maybe we should take a rest?" Sachi suggested timidly.

"That give us another reason to start training right now. We can't start falling behind them, especially when they've already lost so much time integrating Legend Braves into their guild. What do you say?" Keita raised his arm out, and the other guys quickly met fists with Keita's.

"_Mou_... You guys are always like that... Okay I'll go too." Sachi resigned as she too brought her fist to meet theirs.

"Heh... you say that now, and yet in the end you're always the that wants to 'wait till you've leveled'..." Ducker teased Sachi, as the group started laughing together.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx

At the same time, Trojan was talking to his guild-mates in the waiting room on the opposite of the arena from the Black Cats.

"It's as I expected, with this equipment even the clearers are no match." Trojan grinned as he announced.

"We'll kick everyone's behind, and we'll show them who's daboss." The other dagger-wielder, Dboss added.

"We still need to figure out the refining system though, you were fast, but still it's no speedhax." Haxor commented.

"There's no point in trying to hack this system, it just ain't cool." A deep voice echoed, its owner folding his arms.

"What? The system's too hot for you? ToCuFrU?" Haxor jeered at his guildmate.

"I'd like to see you try, Botter, I mean Haxor."

"What'd you say?!"

"Enough!" Trojan shouted at his guildmates, "We're not here to fight amongst ourselves, we're here to prove to Aincrad that we're the strongest guild in existence. We don't need to fight in the stupid clearing battles to prove ourselves, we'll use this tournament to force the players to grovel to our superiority."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x

**Aincrad Standard Time: [14:00]**

"Thanks for the hard work, Mika-san, Argo-san" Diabel thanked the two, as he helped them clean up the table and put down two lunchboxes.

"It's a pleasure, I've always wanted to be an announcer." Mika replied happily.

"I won't complain considering the fee you paid, besides, this tournament's a good source of information... and while I'm on the topic, I'd like to ask you a question." Argo looked at Diabel.

"If I can answer it, I'll try my best." Diabel replied with a slight hint of nervousness in his voice, he was well aware of Argo's ability to extract information out of people.

"Why did you put a 5000 col reward for the players that reached the 2nd round? Normally it's either a larger prize for the finalists, and nothing for everyone else. Or it's a mediocre amount for the finalists to cover costs, and less for the winners. The way you have it doesn't make sense, unless your goal isn't just to profit..." Argo asked.

"Guess we were naive to expect you not to notice... the reality is that our main objective is to find new players with potential to join our guild."

"I thought so, so what about the prize money?"

"As you mentioned, there are two scenarios that we could have taken... In the first case, only players with absolute confidence would participate in the tournament, and that would limit the amount of participants. Furthermore, the most confident players would either already be in a guild, or they have already decided to staying solo, and in either case it would be hard to recruit anyone." Diabel answered Argo's question.

"In the second case, we would have too many players with no ambition, since they could cover their losses just by advancing to the finals and losing. The end result would be countless rounds of uneventful matches, which would be detrimental to the tournament as a whole."

"So you compromised between the two, in the hopes of drawing players with potential to the tournament." Argo concluded.

"Yes, with the reward scheme as it is, even players with less confidence would have incentive to participate. In the case a player succeeds in the first round, the reward along would still not be enough to cover the cost and would force the player to continue trying hard. There is no need to give strong players incentive, but for those who are unsure the monetary temptation should bring out the extra ounce of strength in them."

"I see... and I guess this was Thinker's plan." Argo said as she arranged what Diabel had said.

"I cannot comment on that, but I assure you that both the DDA and ALF are well aware of the scheme." Diabel confided.

"And does Asuna and her group know?" Argo asked accusingly.

"No, and I don't think they should... it would put too much of a strain on them." Diabel answered honestly, and Argo nodded in agreement.

"True, they're too honest for that. Just keep in mind that I expect you to compensate them though." Argo said with a serious voice.

"That will be arranged." Diabel bowed as he turned around, a sweat-drop forming on his head as he escaped from Argo's interrogation.

As Diabel left, Mika let out a small laugh as she faced Argo.

"I'm glad you're on my side as well, Argo-san." Mika exclaimed in relief.

"Well, someone's got to keep those guys in check. We girls have to keep an out for each other right? Besides, I promised that I'd take care of Asuna and them." Argo looked far in the distance as she spoke.

"Oh, the important person again..." Mika winked at Argo as she spoke.

"Mika-chan... do you want me to start digging through your SAO history?" Argo grinned evilly as she asked.

"Waa... I surrender... anything but that." Mika joked as she offered a taco from her lunchbox to Argo.

"One more and I'll forget the issue, you're lucky that I actually like fried octopus balls..." Argo joked, as Mika surrendered another taco from her lunchbox.

"In return I'll give you these," Argo forked two wieners over to Mika, "not a fan of anything dog related..."

Mika looked at Argo with curious eyes, but decided that it was best not to pursue the subject.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx

The afternoon matches passed by smoothly, and soon the second round for group E had finished.

In the waiting room, Klein welcomed Issin as he returned from the stage, patting his back as he joined the guild.

"Good match there. You almost had her." Klein comforted his guildmate.

"Not really, I was done the moment she was able to close in." Issin gave a defeated smile. "I never had a chance."

"What do you mean? You held her off perfect during the first two minutes, it's quite the feat considering how fast she was moving. I don't think I'd be able to do it myself." Klein reassured Issin, who tapped him with his fist.

"Quit joking, you'd probably be able fight her on par... but you're right, I did do my best, so I've got nothing to be depressed about." Issin quickly cheered up as the gang started walking back to the audience stands.

As they turned the corner, they bump into the person who defeated Issin, the group stops as the purple-eyed player turns around.

"Great match back there..." Klein broke the silence as he spoke to the girl.

"You're congratulating me for defeating your guild-mate?" The girl replied coldly, looking at Klein without expression.

"Ah... well, no... but still it was a good match. Don't worry, Issin's not the type that'll give up with a single defeat. Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself... I'm..."

"Klein, guild-leader of the Fuurinkazan. I've heard many things about you." Klein was cut off before he could complete his introduction.

"Uh... yeah well, nice to meet you I suppose." Klein extended his hand nervously.

"Zevela. Look forward to meeting you with the finals." The girl ignored Klein's hand, nodding at the man instead, then turned around and walked back into the audience stands, leaving the silent group of players watching her leave.

"That makes it 258 out of 258, the record has been renewed." Dale muttered, as Klein turned around to his friend.

"Stop rubbing it in!" Klein sulked, irritated at his bad luck with women.

"I swear it's your bandana..." Issin commented, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Why? I think the bandana looks cool? Isn't it cool? Guys?" Klein's questions were met with silence, as the group returned to the spectator's stands.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx

"Announcing the next match - in Group G, Godfree of the "Knights of the Blood", versus Yunda of the Aincrad Liberation Force!" Once again the audience's cheering filled the stage.

Godfree walked onto the stage, waving his hands to the audience in a carefree manner. On the opposite side of the stage, Yunda quickly marched to his starting position and entered his preparation position.

"Eager to start aren't you?" Godfree laughed as he slowly manipulated his menus, materializing his battleaxe. "You'd better not trip while you're in a rush, I'm not leaving anytime soon."

Yunda did not reply, as he focused on beginning of the match.

"Our contestants are ready, let us begin the countdown!" Mika's voice marked the start of the countdown.

"You know, you really should relax a bit, you'll snap one of these days." Godfree said as he swung his axe around.

"..." Yunda looked at the brash man as he slowly put his axe in ready position.

"Not the talkative type? It's fine then, let's have some fun the old fashioned way. You READY?" Godfree shouted as he let go of his axe to signal of the crowd.

"3... 2... 1... GO! Huh?" Godfree's chanting was brought to an abrupt stop as he saw Yunda charging at him with tremendous speed.

"Wha!" Godfree yelped as he brought his axe up, barely quickly enough to block Yunda's [Reaver], sending him several steps back.

Immediately after the first attack, Yunda changed his direction and sprinted around Godfree, trying to get behind him. This time attacking with a diagonal [Crescent Slash], which Godfree barely managed to sidestep, allowing Yunda to go around him.

"Too slow." Yunda opened his mouth for the first time, declaring what should have been certain victory as his second [Crescent Slash] came down on Godfree's back.

"?!" Yunda's declaration was cut short, as his slash was blocked by the handle of the axe, which deflected his blade and continued to thrust towards his face.

Arching backwards, Yunda performed a backflip as he escaped the attack, and continue running around in a circle around Godfree.

"Ah! That was a bit too close for comfort, guess I should stop joking around." Godfree grinned as he drew his axe behind him, holding on to the end of the axe.

"Whirlwind..." Yunda muttered as he read Godfree's move, jumping backwards as Godfree's battleaxe swung around in a full circle.

"That's not all!" Godfree yelled, as he jumped into the air, leaping towards Yunda.

"Eat this! Grand Destruct!" Godfree shouted as his axe glowed red.

Noticing that he was at the edge of the stage, Yunda darted forwards instead of holding his ground. Diving away from the battleaxe, Yunda performed a diving roll and turned around.

"Nice dodge! But I'm sure you didn't come out unscathed." Godfree declared as he looked at Yunda's HP. True enough, the splash damage of the AOE knocked a good 20% of the red-haired man's HP.

"..." Yunda's reply was to charge towards Godfree, taking advantage of the delay in the skill activation.

"No you don't." Godfree twisted his waist, and swung his axe around.

"Chance!" Yunda exclaimed as he jumped into the air, dodging the first strike of the axe as he struck down at the KoB member. Unexpectedly, once again the dagger was deflected, this time by an uppercut swing of the axe which was glowing blue.

"Curse it!" Yunda muttered as he broke into a roll, barely avoiding the third hit of the axe, which smashed into the floor where he was at.

"I told you to relax... you're not going to last at this rate." Godfree gloated, as he looked at Yunda's HP which had dropped to a little over 50%. "I have the definite range advantage, so even with your speed you're no match."

Yunda clenched his scimitar, cursing the fact that Godfree was right. While his speed was much higher, Godfree's battleaxe and his AOE attacks would deplete his HP before he would be able to close in.

"Well.. it was nice fighting you. Hopefully you'll make it to the finals after defeating the other two. I'll be heading into the finals now... good-game." Godfree laughed as he drew his axe backwards.

Yunda recognized the attack as [Smash], a charging AOE hit that would definitely drop his HP below 50%, and charged forwards. Halfway towards Godfree, he changed direction as he darted sideways.

"It's futile!" Godfree yelled as he turned his body so he faced Yunda, as the system assist took over and he flew towards the dagger-wielder.

At the same time, Yunda sank his body and sprinted as fast as he could towards Godfree, glaring at the axe that was rising into the air.

"What?!" Godfree's expression changed to surprise, as Yunda barely avoided him in mid-air. The glowing battleaxe hit the ground, creating a shockwave at the point of impact. However, as Yunda and Godfree had effectively switched places, the AOE did not affect Yunda.

"It's my win!" Yunda declared, as he dashed towards Godfree who was frozen from the cooldown period after his heavy attack. As the scimitar stabbed into Godfree's back, Yunda breathed a sigh of relief.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx

"So, what did you think?" Lynd calmly asked.

"Godfree's an idiot." Aixen remarked, as he reopened his book on martial arts.

"However his combat ability is worth noting, though not at the level of the ALF member." Vendette was quick to point out.

"True, that match could have gone either way. Though it is also because of the compatibility of the weapons itself. I suppose we'll rank Godfree at rank B, and Yunda as rank A?" Lynd said as his two guildmates nodded in agreement.

"Well, that pretty much sums up the day. All we have left to now is to win in the first round. I'm concerned about the other person in Kirito's group though, since I was told that the player was someone that he recommended." Lynd held his head in thought.

"To be safe, I suppose we should consider anyone he recommends to be a rank A+ threat..." Vendette suggested.

"Looks to be an interesting challenge." Aixen stopped reading, as he joined the conversation.

"Indeed, however, it will also affect our chances at dominating the matches. We will need to complete the second stage of our preparations as soon as possible." Lynd said as he got up, and walked towards the exit of the arena.

Behind the trio, the audience continued to cheer for the next contestants that arrived at the stage.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx

**Date: [December 20, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [18:00]**

**Location: [9****th**** Floor – Boss Room]**

"Stop." Kirito held out his hand to his companions, then sat down on the sandy floor.

"Kirito-san, what is the matter?" Kizmel asked.

"Nothing, but I need a rest after travelling for an entire day..." Kirito sighed.

"... but Kirito-san, didn't you want us to travel as fast as we could?"

"You and your men should also take a break, there's no telling what we might encounter." Kirito suggested.

"I understand, in that case we will take a 30 minute break. We can consume our rations while we're here." Kizmel agreed to the suggestion, and sat down with his men.

Smiling, Kirito materialized two pieces of [Black Bread], and a piece of meat.

"Kirito-san, what are you doing?" Fate walked over as she asked.

"Watch..." Kirito replied as he used the meat on the bun, transforming the [Black Bread] into a beef sandwich. Fate looked at Kirito in amazement as he handed her a sandwich.

"Now if only could somehow heat the meat..." Kirito pondered, and suddenly his eyes lit up. "Kizmel-san, can you come over here for a moment?"

"Yes?" Kizmel walked over to Kirito.

"Are you able to manipulate fire?" Kirito asked.

"To a certain extent... why?"

"I want you to heat this sandwich with fire, but not to burn it."

"It should be achievable..." Kizmel replied as she took the sandwich from Kirito and Fate. "Systemcall - generate thermal element."

Kirito watched with his mouth watering, as he saw the bottom of the sandwich become toasted by the fire summoned by Kizmel. Just as he was going to tell Kizmel to stop, one of the buns started to catch fire.

Before Kirito could make a sound, a flash appeared in front of his eyes, and the two buns teleported to Fate's hands, which was also holding her scythe.

"Kirito-san, here." Fate passed Kirito a sandwich as she turned around.

"Fate, wait." Kirito got up and walked up to the girl. "Let me take your sandwich, I like my sandwich well toasted."

Taking the sandwich that was almost burnt to a crisp, Kirito walked back to his spot and began munching on the bun. Leaving Fate looking at him while holding on to her [Toasted Meat Sandwich].

"Ah! I feel alive again! As I thought, toasted sandwiches are the best!" Kirito exclaimed, inciting laughter from both Kizmel and Fate.

"Kirito-san, I must admit, you transform into another person when you're eating." Kizmel commented, as Kirito looked at her innocently with a puzzled expression.

Suddenly, a message popped up in Kirito's notification area. Opening the message, Kirito received the results for the 1st day of the tournament.

[From Argo: Day 1 Results (Win, Draw, Loss)]

Asuna, 1 0 0

Kibaou 1 0 1

Aki 1 0 0

Lancel, 1 0 0

Sachi 1 0 0

Dale, 1 0 0

Lyn

Issin, 1 0 1

Zevela 1 0 0

Agil, 1 0 0

DBoss 1 0 0

Godfree, 1 0 1

Keita, 0 0 1

Yunda, 1 0 0

Diabel, 1 0 0

Heathclif

Beowulf, 1 0 0

ToCuFrU 1 0 0

Éclair, 0 1 0

Silica 0 1 0

Klein, 1 0 0

Vendette 1 0 0

Leafa, 1 0 0

Kuradeel 1 0 0

Tetsuo, 0 1 0

Trojan 0 1 0

Aixen, 1 0 0

Orlando 1 0 0

Haxo

Author's Notes:

A little intermission as we take a 'lunch break' from the tournament action. As some of you may have expected, I'm going to be skipping a few of the matches. Hopefully I'll still be going through the important ones, but I'm not going to be able to go through all 15 x 6 = 90 matches.

We're almost through the first set of matches, and everything is going smoothly so far. I almost feel bad for Keita, as he's going to have a really hard time advancing to the finals at this rate... Everyone else got it easy... even Tetsuo... lol... at least they're going for good-ole-fashioned training now, so hopefully he'll pull through.

Anyways... finally we're introduced to our first group of 'villains', our NEET squad. Obviously they're not the type of people you want to hang out with in a life-or-death VMMORPG. Now the question is whether they'll become an actual threat? Or are they just a group of clowns who are picking the wrong fight?

On Kirito's side, nothing really happened this chapter... so it's marching forwards for now... we'll see what happens when he's back on the 10th. (Don't worry, I won't have him walk all the way back to the front lines. I promise that the gate at the 10th floor is fully operational.)

Cheat Notes:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 9th)

Surviving Players: 94xx players.

Non-Canon Characters:

Aki 30

Mika 18

Cocoa 12

Fate 28

Eclair 26

Aixen 26

Vendette 26

Lancel 26

Zevela 28

Yunda 28

Characters: 

Kirito 31

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15 + Orb of Light

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15 + Orb of Darkness

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

Orb of Light & Darkness

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 5S3D] 12/12

_(Unused) [Bullish Shield+9]_

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 3A3Q2S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 9Q] 12/12

Silica 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 3Q4S2A] 12/12

Lisbeth 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H4D] 12/12

Argo 23

L25 [Alloy Steel Claws 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Klein 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Agil 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 5H4D] 12/12

Sachi 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 2S3Q3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler+8] 12/12

Aki 30

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 1S5D] 6/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +5] 6/12

Fate 28

**BA Series – Scythe**

**BA Series – Zamber Greatsword**

**Bardiche Assault – Gauntlets + Orb of Lightning**

_L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword] 0/12_

Eclair 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3Q3S2D] 12/12

Aixen 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q4S] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q3S] 12/12

Vendette 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 3H2S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 2H2S5D] 12/12

Lancel 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7H1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Zevela 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Tanto Dagger 7Q1A] 12/12

Yunda 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 8Q] 12/12

Coper 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Diabel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Kibaou 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Grande Buckler +7] 12/12

Lynd 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 6S1A2D] 12/12

Heathcliff 29

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S6D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Godfree 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 8H] 12/12

Kuradeel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 7S] 12/12

Keita 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Staff 3H4D] 12/12

Tetsuo 24

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H2D] 12/12

Beowulf 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S4H] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Orlando 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S3A] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Issin 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Bident Spear 5Q2A] 12/12

Dale 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 6H] 12/12

ToCuFrU 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Axe 8H] 12/12

Trojan 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Haxor 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

Mika 18

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler +8] 12/12

Cocoa 12

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Ducker (BCoFM) - 24

Sasamaru (BCoFM) - 24

Nezha - 25

Other 'Legend Brave' 22-27

Other Fuurinkazan 25-27

Other DDA 22-27

/Thinker (ALF) - 25

Other ALF 21-28

Daizan (KoB) (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

Floor Opening History:

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17

Groupings: (Only listing significant characters)

A: Asuna, Kibaou

B: Aki

C: Lancel, Sachi

D: Dale, Lynd

E: Issin, Zevela

F: Agil, DBoss

G: Godfree, Keita, Yunda,

H: Diabel, Heathcliff

I: Beowulf, ToCuFrU

J: Éclair, Silica

K: Tetsuo, Trojan

L: Leafa, Kuradeel

M: Klein, Vendette

N: Aixen, Orlando

O: Haxor,

P: Coper, Fate, Kirito


	70. The Second Day

**The Second Day**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**Notes:**

_oops... I didn't realize that I forgot to actually 'post new chapter' to the story... guess I'll be one more day late._

Spring is here, and that means I'm going to catch the flu.. Orz...

Anyways, if you notice certain area that seem 'weird', it's probably because I was half-awake when I was writing... I'll come back to fix it up later on... going to get some zZz now...

**Q&A:**

Kojiro Kun: I'm hoping to develop Lancel a bit more while outside of the tournament, but I'll still be detailing his duels so don't worry.

Prince of Havok: Honestly, I haven't decided who to pair Kirito with yet... still too early. As for his 'leadership'... I'm more inclined to have him lead his own group. Leading the entire clearing group will be left for more suitable people... (e.g. Diabel, Heathcliff, Asuna)

zinmaster24: I swear I seriously messed up my planning... had Kirito be free to return too soon... now he's a day ahead and all the urgency seems to have died off. Guess I'll have to fix it somehow (preferably without messing with the plot)

Tahkaullus01: Well... if I made them Jessie and James I'd have to have then leave, then come back and kick Kirito's behind without trying... I'd rather cast them away once this is done lol...

Atrile: Let's just say I'm giving Godfree an IQ value in the two-digits range...

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

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**Date: [December 21, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [09:00]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Decium Grande]**

"HALT! Do not attempt to move further!" Kirito was stopped by the Elven guards at the entrance of the palace, as he saw a dozen armed soldiers surround his party.

"I Kizmel, leader of the Underworld investigation unit, request an audience with the queen." Kizmel stepped forward, holding out a medal marked with engravings.

"Please allow us to examine the medallion." The Elf that seemed to be the leader stepped forward and received the medal that Kizmel passed to him.

"Systemcall - Identify!" The man chanted, as a circular symbol appeared on his hand.

Suddenly, the Elven guard pulled out a corridor crystal as he chanted. "Corridor Open!"

Before anyone could react, countless Elves rushed out of the corridor, surrounding Kirito's group.

"Kizmel, you are suspected of betrayal of the Dark Elven Kingdom, by releasing information to the Underworld! Stand down and you will be given the right to trial!" The Elven guard's words shocked Kizmel as well as everyone else.

"What should we do?" Fate whispered to Kirito, as she got ready for battle.

"Wait..." Kirito quickly responded, as he noticed a "!" mark on the Elven guard's head. Walking in front of Kizmel, he spoke to the guard. "We wish to know of the grounds which you judged our betrayal, can you inform us?"

"We are not required to know, but if you cooperate you will receive what you wish to know prior to your execution." The guard's answer was what Kirito expected, as he turned to Kizmel.

"I suppose we have no choice then, let's obey while we find a chance to prove our innocence." Kirito's request was met with Kizmel's acknowledgement, and she ordered her men to stand down.

As Kizmel and her men surrendered their weapons, (while Kirito and Fate merely returned their equipment to their inventory), the group was led into the palace prison. Before he entered the prison area, Kirito quickly conjured up his message window, and sent a message.

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**Date: [December 21, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [08:55]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Tournament Venue]**

Sachi stood in the waiting room, nervously awaiting the time of her match. Beside her Keita and the rest of the Black Cats created a circle around her.

"Don't worry, it'll just be like fighting monsters on the field, just with another player as an opponent." Keita reassured Sachi.

"But I'll be fighting someone I don't know, and he's a leader in the ALF as well..." Sachi spoke with a slight quiver in her voice.

"You've fought people much stronger than that, so don't worry. Besides, in terms of fighting ability, I doubt there would be many stronger than Kirito-san or Leafa-san, they're both on a league of their own, then there's also Asuna-san..."

"I still can't see her attacks, no matter how many times I've tried..." Sachi replied with a hint of defeat in her voice.

"But lately you've been able to consistently block her attacks... so have faith in yourself." Keita smiled, as he put his hand on top of Sachi's head.

"That's because I've learnt her attack patterns... but I know nothing of my opponent this time..."

"Don't worry, worst case, you'll end up Keita over here..." Ducker joined the conversation, poking Keita in the ribs.

"Ouch, that hurt..." Keita turned to Ducker and gave him a headlock.

"See? Keita lost the first match, and he's still energetic as ever. So just go and have fun... ARGH... Keita! Let go! I'm..." Ducker's sentence was cut short as Keita started strangling the thief-like player.

As the rest of the group started laughing together, Sachi smiled and gripped her sword, feeling better about the upcoming match.

All of a sudden, a girl came running down the stairs towards the Black Cats, and Sachi turned to the girl as she jumped into Sachi's arms.

"Sachi-chan, I didn't know you were joining in the competition also, I thought you didn't like these kinds of events? So you've made it to the front lines after-all, no wonder I haven't seen you in [Starting City] for ages." The girl said after letting go of Sachi.

"I'm sorry for worrying you Mika-chan, I was surprised that you formed your own guild as well. I heard what happened to Claus-san, and I'm glad you're doing well also. How come you're down here by the way? Who's doing the announcements?"

"Oh, I snuck out on a 'break', so Argo's covering for me right now. When I get back I'm going to grill her for not telling me about you being in the tournament though... though it's also my fault for not checking the participant list." Mika let out an embarrassed laugh.

"It's alright, sort of my fault for not keeping in touch as well..." Sachi smiled at Mika.

"Anyways, your first rival is one of the defense leaders of the ALF. From what I've heard, he's one of the toughest defenders out there, so don't try to win. As long as you last the three minutes, you'll be able to force a draw on him." Mika warned as she materialized the information sheet.

"I don't know if I'll even be able to do that..." Sachi hesitated as she spoke.

"You'll be fine, remember what you told me when you first started, that you'll be fine as long as your friends are with you? Well now you're at the front lines, a place that I failed to reach, and your friends are all here to support you. You don't need to be worried, just do your best. By the way, you know the difference between your equipment right?" Mika asked.

"Yes, his weapon is heavier than mine, but slower. Furthermore, his shield is also bigger, but also slower." Sachi answered.

"Wow, I guess you aren't in the Black Cats for nothing." Mika exclaimed.

"Actually..." Keita interrupted, "Sachi isn't just in the Black Cats... she's actually the strongest of all of us..."

"Eh!" Mika's gasp echoed in the waiting room.

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Inside the other changeroom, Lancel stood beside his guild-leader in silence.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to agree with the orders that I gave Kibaou, but rest assured I have no intention on tainting your honor with similar actions." Thinker was the first to break the silence.

"Thinker-san, may I ask why you issued such an honor for Kibaou? I understand you needed to defend ALF's image, but Kibaou's stunt in yesterday's match must put ALF in a bad light for many." Lancel asked his leader respectfully.

"It's was a difficult decision, but I believe it to be necessary... At this point the most important thing we need to do is to establish ourselves as the largest most powerful guild." Thinker explained, "Unfortunately, by taking this path we will eventually reach a size where factions will appear within our guild. I foresee Kibaou becoming my enemy one day, and at that I will need you and Diabel to rally those who share the same beliefs as you."

"Wouldn't it be easier to expel Kibaou from the group? Our public impression would instantly be improved."

"Regardless of whether Kibaou is expelled, there will inevitably be another who shares the ideals he has. I would rather have Kibaou lead the enemy, since they would at least be predictable. To be honest, I know that my doings don't put me on a moral high ground, so that is why I am the leader that doesn't lead... but you and Diabel have that potential, and unfortunately I must burden you two with the task of leading one day." Thinker bowed to his guide-mate, who dropped to one knee.

"Very well, I swear by my honor that I will fulfill your wishes." Lancel swore solemnly.

"Thank you." Thinker replied, as he helped Lancel get up. "Now to the matters at hand... your next match will not be easy, since you will be up against the strongest player of the Black Cats. I know you never underestimate your opponents, but if you are too gentlemanly you might lose the match."

"The rumor about Kirito-san training the Black Cats is true then?" Lancel asked with concern.

"Yes. So there is a chance that the opponent may use unorthodox methods. I would recommend a focus on defense, but I'll leave the final decision to you. Good Luck!" Thinker said as he returned to the waiting area, as the next match began.

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"... and now. Taking the place of Mika-san who suddenly disappeared..." Argo's voice showed a slight amount of irritation. "I will introduce the next match..."

"In group C, Lancel of the ALF, versus Sachi of the BCoFM!"

Argo squinted her eyes as she noticed Mika walking out of the waiting room with Sachi.

_So that's why... guess Mika's going to grill me about not telling her about the Black Cats then... talk about a small world..._

"As many of you already know, both players are active on the front lines, and possess excellent defense skills. This will be a perfect opportunity for aspiring tank-players to learn a new trick or two." Argo announced as the two players took their position.

Sachi drew her sword, as she took up a ready position against the ALF player.

Contrary to her expectation, the boy standing opposite him bowed politely.

"Pleased to be of acquaintance, my name is Lancel. I look forward to the honorable match that lies ahead of us." Lancel smiled at Sachi, who returned the greeting nervously.

"Please go easy on me..."

"If I may be so rude? May I ask you a question before the match?"

"Huh? Uh... sure..." Sachi was surprised at Lancel's request.

"I would like to know, for what reason do you stand at the front lines, facing death day to day and risking your life?"

"Countdown... start..." Argo announced, as the two participants stood in silence.

"..." Sachi thought about the reply momentarily, "I stand here because I wish to protect. To repay those who have protected me to this point, and for those who I will one day be able to protect."

Lancel nodded, and smiled at the girl. "I understand now. It would be an insult for me to go easy on a strong person as you. It will be an honor for me to duel you at our best." With a low-pitched ring, Lancel drew his sword.

With a short dash, Lancel activated [Sonic Leap] which closed his distance to Sachi, his sword glowing blue as the system assist sped up the attack.

Sachi dodged to the side, turning her buckler as she parried Lancel's attack at an acute angle, using the force to push her further away. Looking at her HP, she noticed that even a glancing hit on the shield took off a slight amount of her HP.

Taking another step sideways, Sachi returned the attack with her own [Sonic Leap], charging at Lancel's right side. Lancel immediately turned and positioned his kiteshield to block the attack head-on, his feet slipping half a foot before standing firm.

Just as Lancel was about to slash his sword downwards at Sachi, he noticed the girl spin her body counterclockwise, and instinctively ducked his head avoiding the buckler that swept through the air above him.

_Thinker-san was right, engaging in close combat may be dangerous with her unorthodox methods._ Lancel thought as he jumped backwards, putting his shield in front of him in a traditional position.

Standing with one meter between them, Lancel and Sachi stood off against each other, holding their shield up as they looked for openings to attack the opponents. Unfortunately both players were unable to find an opening.

_As expected, her defense is well-balanced, and even with a buckler she deflects my attacks effortlessly. Though her attacks are relatively weak, I must not lose my concentration. _Lancel thought as he tried to lure Sachi to attack, feinting a stabbing attack. Unfortunately Sachi did not fall for the trick.

_It looks like this match may end in the draw at this rate, but I'm unsatisfied with this kind of ending. A match like this deserves more than a simple match of attack and defense. _Lancel thought as he considered unleashing his newly acquired skill, a skill he originally wished to withhold until the second round.

Looking at his opponent, then at the timer which had 30 seconds left, Lancel made his decision. Charging towards Sachi's left side, he begun the first strike of [Horizontal Square], slashing the side of Sachi's buckler as he dashed past the girl.

Expecting the second hit to slash his target's back, Lancel was surprised when he saw Sachi jump into mid-air. Lifting his shield to block the attack aimed at his head, Lancel's third strike missed its mark.

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"As expected of Sachi-chan, she's getting better every day. You'd better be careful Leafa, otherwise she'll overtake you soon." Lisbeth grinned at Leafa, while she munched on the popcorn that was purchased at the stands.

"Well, I won't be defeated that easily. Oh.. the last hit! Oh, she missed." Leafa exclaimed as the duel message announced the tie. "It was very clever of her to response with a [Vertical Square]."

"Kirito-san taught her that a few weeks ago. He said since [Horizontal Square] is an attack that limits your movement as it strikes, so the way to counter it would be to escape. Naturally the easiest way would be to jump upwards, and [Vertical Square] is one of the best counters available." Silica added, as she fed her pet dragon another peanut.

"Come to think of it Liz, why are you here today? Aren't you extremely busy during these few days?" Asuna turned and asked Lisbeth.

"Yes I am... as a matter of fact, I going to meet my client right now..." Lisbeth got up and started walking to the contestant waiting room.

"Another blade for Lynd? I hope they're paying her a high price." Asuna muttered, as she turned her attention back to the arena.

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"Amazing... this match should have been my lost." Lancel smiled as he put his sword back into his sheath, walking towards Sachi with his hand extended.

"No, I think it was your win. If the match hadn't ended, I'd be open for a counter attack." Sachi replied humbly as she shook Lancel's hand.

"In that case, we can both accept the tie, hopefully I'll have the honor of battling you again... this time side by side against the floor boss, fulfilling our duty to the players." Lancel said.

"I look forward to it." Sachi smiled in reply, as the two players turned around and left the stage.

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One hour later, Agil was standing in the same spot that Sachi and Lancel occupied, and across him stood his opponent wielding a dagger and kiteshield.

Agil looked at his opponent, as he recalled Argo's sudden message that was titled 'Free Service'.

[Argo: Free info today, end your match in 1 hit! You've learnt the 'Breaker' right?]

Agil smiled as he was once again reminded that there was no hiding information from the rat, as he held his axe behind his body, its blade tilted at 30-degrees to the floor.

As the timer counted down, Agil noticed his opponent's grin.

_He's probably planning to dodge my attack, but unfortunately, this attack's not one that you can casually block._

"3... 2... 1... 0!" Agil pushed the ground with a small explosion, and closed the distance before his opponent could dodge. Seeing his opponent raise his shield in irritation, Agil grinned as he executed his skill - [Double Breaker].

The first swing created massive sparks on DBoss' kiteshield, and caused DBoss' HP to drop more than 20%. Finally bouncing off the shield and into the air, Agil allowed the momentum to lift him into the air, as he whirled his axe around him as he soared.

The second slash was a upwards slash, which hit the shield again at a 45-degree. Agil let out a roar as the recoil slammed him into the ground, but even so he used his full strength into his axe.

A shattering sound was heard as DBoss's shield shattered, the man sent into the air with a giant red streak from toe to head. The crowd cheered as they watched Agil's dominating victory, as DBoss landed outside the stage. Smiling, Agil got up from arena floor, as the pop-up message declared Agil's victory.

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**Date: [December 21, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [14:00]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Decium Grande - Palace Dungeon]**

Kirito sat down on the floor, having given up on the idea of being instantly released to continue the quest. In the cells beside him, Kizmel and her men were sitting on the floor in meditation.

"I guess it was a bad idea to surrender so easily." Kirito muttered.

"Perhaps not." Fate interrupted Kirito's train of thought, as she materialized her weapon.

"If our arrest was part of a grand scheme, then the fact that we retained our weapons is an obvious clue as to what we must do." Fate deduced. "However, there must also be a reason in our capture in the first place..."

Fate's conversation was cut short, as the dungeon gate creaked open. Kirito watched as two guards escorted an old Elven man into the dungeon, followed with a hooded figure. The guards led the old man in front of a cell, and opened the door.

"We will part ways here." The hooded figure commanded, as the elf slowly walked into the cell. Suddenly Kizmel charged towards the edge of her cell.

"That voice... your..." Kizmel was interrupted by the hooded figure.

"Your queen is currently missing; we suspect it may have to do with the traitors like you within our ranks. This man will tell you all about it." The hooded figure quietly said, as she turned around and left with her guards.

"Ah... Kizmel. I see you are well." The old man started to speak to Kizmel as soon as the hooded figure closed the dungeon door.

"Yes... and I am ready to execute her majesty's orders." Kizmel kneeled towards the old man.

"You have not changed since our last encounter, still eager to fight but unable to relax... it will lead you to trouble one day." The old man spoke gently to Kizmel.

"My apologies." Kizmel lowered her head as she spoke.

"No matter... well let us get to business then." The old man turned to Kirito, "Greetings human, I have heard much of your abilities and I thank you for assisting Kizmel. I am Yeven, archbishop of the Elven lands, and currently under servitude to the Elven queen."

Kirito looked at the old man, and nodded.

"I have been sent here to deliver a message, as we are in a state of emergency. We have discovered traitors within our ranks, and we fear they may attempt to assassinate the queen. In order to bring out the traitors, we have leaked out false information stating that the queen has gone missing."

"But wasn't that?" Kizmel asked.

"The queen is now missing, that's all you need to know. Fear not, those two men are our greatest fighters, and they are bound by blood-oath to the queen." Yeven interruped Kizmel, as he continued. "What I need now is for you to continue looking for Finarfin, as we believe him to be closely related to the issues at hand. I fear that his attempt to revive a forgotten horror is merely the first step of a larger scheme."

Kirito stood in silence as he listened to the conversation between Yeven and Kizmel, and noted the updates in his quest log. Materializing his swords, he quickly sliced open the chains that bounded the cell doors.

"Well, in that case we'd better start moving." Kirito walked over to Kizmel's cell. "Nothing like a jailbreak to set the chaos in motion."

"... but Kirito-san... if we break out of jail, we'll have to fight other elves that may be allies..." Fate expressed her concerns, as she looked at Kizmel for advice.

"Ah, you need not worry about that, all the guards currently in this prison have been verified to be traitors. Mainly due to the fact that information was leaked about my arrival here. As a matter of fact, I expect the rebels to send an assassin for me just about... now." Yeven announced casually, as the dungeon door was kicked open as two heavily armed Elves entered the dungeon. The two elves looked at Kirito's group in surprise, then charged at them with full speed.

"Well, I guess that saves us the effort needed to exit with stealth... let's take them out!" Kirito brandished his blades and sprinted towards the assassins. A breeze of wind blew past Kirito, as Fate blitzed past him.

"Acknowledged." Fate responded as she swung her scythe, having gone behind the two assassins. As the black shadow moved through the air, plasma streaks jolted the two assassins.

"Nice!" Kirito grinned, as the two assassins were mercilessly bombarded by Kirito's blades. Throwing one of his blades to impale the elf on the left, Kirito used his right hand to perform his newest skill - the 5-hit Star-Quint Prominence, depleting the elf's HP to zero.

Performing two slashes in the air and sheathing his darkblade, Kirito thanked Fate who handed him the knightsword from the other elf that had also been eliminated. Turning to Kizmel and her men, Kirito smiled.

"What are you waiting for?" Kirito grinned as Kizmel and her men looked at the two in disbelief.

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**Date: [December 21, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [14:00]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Polaris - Tournament Venue]**

Within the stage viewing area, the crowd's excitement was through the roof, as they watched the fast-paced duel between the contestants. The duels today were relatively uneventful, and naturally the crowd enjoyed the sudden change of pace.

The loud clash of colliding swords echoed off the walls, as the two fighters finally made some distance between them. On one side, Vendette of the DDA, stood with one sword stabbed into the ground for support. Holding his other blade in preparation for the opponent, he noted his HP was around 60%.

The other competitor, Klein was holding his scimitar with both hands, trying to regain his breath after a fierce round of attack and defense. Looking at his HP, he realized that 40% had been depleted so far.

_This almost feels like I'm sparring with Kirito, looks like DDA's seriously aiming for the champion spot. _Klein thought as he observed his opponent, who wielded shorter swords than Kirito, but had tremendous strength to offset his lower reach and speed.

"Very impressive, I see that the Fuurinkazan guild isn't just for looks." Vendette complimented Klein, as he pulled his blade out of the ground.

"Thanks, though I'm afraid we won't have enough time to settle the duel. Or do you want to try your luck?" Klein grinned, as he changed his blade into a horizontal position.

"A dragon never backs off from a challenge." Vendette declared, as he pushed off the ground in a cloud of dust.

Klein smiled as his opponent took the bait, as he dropped his arm and pointed his weapon downwards, a yellow light concentrating on the blade. As Vendette slashed both blades downwards towards Klein, the 4-hit skill [Farrant Fullmoon] was activated.

Two upward diagonal slashes blocked Vendette's swords as the afterimage streaked in the air, then a crescent slash knocked both blades upwards to expose the opponent. Pulling his blade backwards, Klein prepared his last hit with a forward stab.

To Klein's surprise, the thrust of the scimitar was somehow blocked by Vendette's twin blades which had retracted barely in time. Klein immediately felt the sheer amount of physical strength his opponent had, as he struggled to prevent getting pushed back.

The competition of strength was abruptly terminated, as the purple force field broke up the two players. As they lowered sheathed their weapons, the popup message announced the draw.

"Our leader was correct in assessing you as a formidable opponent, I look forward to our next match in the finals." Vendette clenched his fist and raised it towards Klein, then turned around and exited the stage.

_Honestly, I'd rather not have to fight you guys... _Klein laughed at his weakling attitude, but deep inside he felt that he would have to try harder if he was going to stay amongst the top players.

As Klein walked back towards the waiting room, he saw Leafa heading out for her match and he waved at the girl.

"Ah, Klein-san, good match there. With that you should have no issues getting into the final round, congratulations." Leafa bowed at Klein and said.

"I'm sure you'll have no problems either. Honestly, you're one of the few people that I wouldn't want to bump into during the tournament, since I'd definitely lose."

"You're being modest Klein-san, you fought well against one of the top elites of the DDA." Leafa smiled as she replied. "Anyways, it's my turn now, hope I'll be able to spar with you in the finals."

"Don't finish the match too quickly - your new fanclub will be disappointed if they don't get to see you enough." Klein joked, and was met with an angry stare from Leafa. The girl stuck her tongue out and made a weird face to Klein, then walked quickly past the bandit-styled player.

_Klein-san is sure weird at times... but a nice person nonetheless. Thanks to him I'm not feeling nervous at all. Let's give this fight my best!_

Leafa smiled as she walked up the stage, amidst a wave of cheering of applause. She was slightly surprised that many players were chanting her name, but soon she got into her competition mode and blocked off all the distractions.

Looking at her opponent, it was a man dressed in rather a glamorous suit of armor, with a broadsword that had a gem embedded in it. The man had a creepy expression, and his eyes reminded Leafa of a hungry vulture.

"In the next match, we have two unguilded players. Surely their performance will attract invitations... On the one side, we have Leafa, and on the other Kuradeel. The match countdown will begin... NOW!"

Leafa drew her sword and held it with her right hand, with her right foot in front, in a thrusting position. She watched her opponent swing his sword twice, and quickly arrived at the conclusion that she had a severe speed advantage.

"So, young lady, what do you say I finish you off in one hit? I hate to destroy a cute girl like you, but your loss will increase my fame with the players greatly. After all, they have yet to witness the greatness that I bring to the game." Kuradeel sneered, as he looked at the girl.

Hearing his taunt, Leafa decided that it wasn't even worth responding, bending her knees, she prepared to dash forward and commence her attacks.

"So you're the silent type aren't you, no matter, I'll bring you to tears once I defeat you completely. I wish I could hear you scream, but that's not allowed by the system." Kuradeel taunted, as he lifted his greatsword over his head.

_Overhead heavy hit - Avalanche. It would be difficult to block the attack completely, but I don't want to give the impression of fleeing._ Leafa quickly made up mind, as the countdown reached zero.

Rushing forwards, Leafa drew her blade behind her, as she watched Kuradeel's greatsword start glowing. Jumping into midair, Leafa's sword glowed blue as her [Sonic Leap] triggered, turning her into a blue comet with an impact course towards Kuradeel.

Kuradeel's greatsword glowed red as he brought his swing down, the sword glowing red. The clash between blue and red sent the audience into an uproar of cheering, as the force of collision blew a dust cloud into the atmosphere.

As the dust cloud cleared up, the duel result box popped up over the stage. Leafa stood with her back to Kuradeel, who had kneeled down on both knees. As red streak cut across Kuradeel's back, and it was obvious who the winner was.

Kuradeel looked up at Leafa, who gave him a grin before turning around. Kuradeel lifted his fists in frustration, and pounded the floor.

As Leafa walked down the stage, she looked at her 55% HP and gave a sigh of relief.

_Phew! I barely made it, if my angle was slightly off the damage would probably cost me the match. In any case, I'm in the finals now... if I keep winning I should eventually meet up with onii-chan."_

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**Date: [December 21, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [17:00]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Decium Grande - Dark Alleyways]**

"As expected, all the exits are locked down due to the queen's disappearance." Kizmel announced to her party, which decided to hide out in the slums to prevent attracting too much attention.

"Guess we'll have to wait until night time before we can escape..." Kirito replied, then turned to the old man. "Yeven-san, do you know of any secret passages that can lead us out of the city undetected? We need to stop the meeting before we're too late right?"

"There is a hidden passage that would allow us to exit the city walls, but unfortunately we will have to wait until midnight... as its entrance is in the middle of town. I must caution you against this method, as the abandoned passage has become the lair of rather vile creatures." Yeven answered.

_That's just what I was waiting for... now the only problem - what type of a dungeon is this secret passage._

"Yeven-san, can you give us more information about the secret passage?" Kirito asked again, as he opened up his quest log.

"From our scouting reports, the passageway has become the home to many snakes and spiders, and rumors have it that a large spider has built its nest in one of escape routes. We would be wise to avoid the 'The Giant Tarantula', as we do not know much about it."

_Guess that answers the question, now we need to rest and get ready._

"Kizmel-san, we don't have much of a choice at this rate. We should find a place to rest, and then start our escape at midnight... But before that... we need to get our equipment fixed up." Kirito suggested to Kizmel, who nodded in agreement.

As Kizmel gave orders to her men, Kirito motioned to Fate, who followed Kirito into the market district, while donning a dark cape plus a hood that covered her face.

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"This doesn't look good, at this rate we'll probably be too late." Kirito spoke to Fate as the two walked returned from the market area, having finished maintaining their equipment.

"Have you contacted any of the others for reinforcements?"

"Yes I have, since finally we're back on a floor that they can reach us." Kirito replied. "Unfortunately it is unlikely that they will be able to reach us before tomorrow, especially since we're far away from the floor's main teleport gate."

"In that case, we should contact the others and have them establish a contingency plan. You told me that the other players in this game were holding a tournament right? Maybe we could enlist their help in tracking down our targets." Fate suggested.

"I'd like to prevent the raid completely if possible, but I suppose I shouldn't take such a risk. I'll contact the players on the 12th floor to see if they can lend a hand, hopefully some of them will come down to this floor as well to help us out... but first we have to get out of this city."

As the two walked back into the shadows of the dark alleyway, a pair of eyes followed at a distance. Watching Kirito disappear into the alley, the mysterious figured grinned and turned back and disappeared into alley.

**Author's Notes:**

Been feeling like crap for the last few days... I hope I didn't catch the flu or something...

Coming back from the intermission, we have a slew of matches occurring... though most matches were relatively short and uneventful. Most of this was to set the stage for the second round, where the characters will actually fight to their full potential. (If everything goes well, certain character may even get upgraded weapons or even completely different weapons... we'll see.)

So another day blows away, and Kirito finally reaches the next stage of his quest... time's ticking though, so he'd better be fast. I'm having a bit of trouble sorting out what I want to do here, so excuse the dragging feeling that this chapter may have given off.

**Cheat Notes:**

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 10th)

Surviving Players: 94xx players.

Non-Canon Characters:

Aki 30

Mika 18

Cocoa 12

Fate 28

Eclair 26

Aixen 26

Vendette 26

Lancel 26

Zevela 28

Yunda 28

Characters: 

Kirito 31

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15 + Orb of Light

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15 + Orb of Darkness

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

Orb of Light & Darkness

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 5S3D] 12/12

_(Unused) [Bullish Shield+9]_

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 3A3Q2S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 9Q] 12/12

Silica 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 3Q4S2A] 12/12

Lisbeth 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H4D] 12/12

Argo 23

L25 [Alloy Steel Claws 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Klein 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Agil 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 5H4D] 12/12

Sachi 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 2S3Q3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler+8] 12/12

Aki 30

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 1S5D] 6/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +5] 6/12

Fate 28

BA Series – Scythe

BA Series – Zamber Greatsword

Bardiche Assault – Gauntlets + Orb of Lightning

_L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword] 0/12_

Eclair 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3Q3S2D] 12/12

Aixen 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q4S] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q3S] 12/12

Vendette 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 5H2S3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 2H2S5D] 12/12

Lancel 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7H1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Zevela 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Tanto Dagger 7Q1A] 12/12

Yunda 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 8Q] 12/12

Coper 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Diabel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Kibaou 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Grande Buckler +7] 12/12

Lynd 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 6S1A2D] 12/12

_L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 9Q1D] 12/12_

Heathcliff 29

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S6D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Godfree 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 8H] 12/12

Kuradeel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 7S] 12/12

Keita 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Staff 3H4D] 12/12

Tetsuo 24

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H2D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Beowulf 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S4H] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Orlando 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S3A] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Issin 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Bident Spear 5Q2A] 12/12

Dale 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 6H] 12/12

ToCuFrU 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Axe 8H] 12/12

Trojan 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Haxor 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

DBoss

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

Mika 18

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler +8] 12/12

Cocoa 12

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Ducker (BCoFM) - 24

Sasamaru (BCoFM) - 24

Nezha - 25

Other 'Legend Brave' 22-27

Other Fuurinkazan 25-27

Other DDA 22-27

/Thinker (ALF) - 25

Other ALF 21-28

Daizan (KoB) (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

Floor Opening History:

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17

Groupings: (Only listing significant characters)

A: Asuna, Kibaou

B: Aki

C: Lancel, Sachi

D: Dale, Lynd

E: Issin, Zevela

F: Agil, DBoss

G: Godfree, Keita, Yunda,

H: Diabel, Heathcliff

I: Beowulf, ToCuFrU

J: Éclair, Silica

K: Tetsuo, Trojan

L: Leafa, Kuradeel

M: Klein, Vendette

N: Aixen, Orlando

O: Haxor,

P: Coper, Fate, Kirito


	71. Through the Night

**Through the Night**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Notes:

ARGH, between work, spring cleaning, and... (actually, I can't think of anything else, those two alone consumed my entire week... Orz)...

Anyways... you get the picture, so please forgive my relatively uneventful and short chapter.

Finally received my copy of Live Grace Opus II X Union 2013 from japan... so I'll probably be spending my free time (or what's left of it) watching and rewatching it. So until the fanboy in me dies down don't expect a super long chapter anytime soon... LOL

Q&A:

(Sorry... slight burnt out after all the garden work and all that... and I have to work early tomorrow as well.. I'll address the Q&A's next chapter... sorry)

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

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**Date: [December 21, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [19:00]**

**Location: [12****th**** Floor – Tournament Venue]**

Silence filled the arena, which was previously full of eager players that were enjoying the tournament preliminaries. Now that the second day was finished, most players had resumed their daily life, whether it involved heading to the market area for food or heading to the field to level.

The stage itself, however, was still occupied by several players of significance - the main players in the clearing group. Gathered together, the leaders of the ALF and DDA discussed the issue at hand - a message from Kirito updating them of the upcoming dangers.

"It would seem that we'll have to postpone the tournament for the time being." Thinker was the first to speak up, after having a brief discussion with Diabel and Coper who had arrived earlier.

"I'm not doubting the authenticity of Kirito's message, but just a warning is hardly enough justification for postponing the tournament that we all worked so hard to set up. I don't think the crowd will take it too well either." Lynd contested Thinker's proposal.

"It may still be a rumor at this point, but several members in the ALF have also encountered NPC's talking about Christmas day being a day where everything will forever change." Diabel stepped up and joined the conversation.

"I have personally heard the rumors as well, however it none of my guild members have heard anything as concrete as a 'city raid'. If this was a game event, then the news must have been widely circulated by now, as opposed to being at the point of a rumor." Lynd continued his reasoning.

"You have a point there, _if_ this was a normal MMORPG game. I'm sure you've also noticed that this game's system has been acting abnormally, so I feel it's better to be overly cautious." Thinker spoke in a solemn tone.

"Still, it is going to be hard to convince the crowd without some sort of concrete evidence..." Lynd's response was cut short.

"You want your evidence, here it is." Asuna walked up to the stage, accompanied by an irregular combination.

"Lancel, I thought you were leading a group on the fields?" Diabel asked surprisingly.

"I am sorry Diabel-san, but I met Asuna-san and Argo-san on my way to the field, and they have urgent news." Lancel bowed towards the sub-leader of the ALF.

"We received this while leveling on the fields on the 12th floor, I asked Argo about the event, and it seems that players have started receiving these 'warnings' since around 18:00." Asuna handed the sheet of paper to Lynd, who read the contents out loud.

"_Master Scrooge, we have successfully relocated the weapons and the blueprints to the designated location. Upon the rise of the betrayer, he and his army will be armed with the best weapons possible. We shall assault [Starting City] without falling back, until your reinforcements arrive."_ As Lynd recited the words, the players standing in the arena noted the update on their quest log. Returning the piece of paper to Asuna, Lynd nodded his head.

"Very well, that gives us enough justification to postpone the tournament. The next question would then be regarding the way we split our forces."

"The ALF will remain stationed at [Starting City]." Thinker answered immediately. "Most of our forces have already begun preparation for the raid, and we will defend the city to our last man."

"We will, however, send a group of our best fighters to aid in the search of the 12th floor. Since it is likely that the mobs will be of higher difficulty there. If everything goes according to plan, everybody should be able to return to [Starting City] before the raid occurs in full force." Diabel added. "That is, if the raid occurs the same way as a 'normal' MMORPG would."

"I suppose the DDA has no reason to refuse the arrangement then, we will allocate our weaker players to aid in the defense of [Starting City], as we spearhead the main scouting party to discover the event boss." Lynd agreed with the decisions made by the ALF leaders.

"In that case, I'm going to send messages to rally the stragglers. They will be meeting up with Asuna to join your raid. I'll be at [Starting City] though, since I have business to tend to there as well." Argo winked at Asuna, who nodded.

The two leaders watched as Argo quickly left the arena and into the darkness, then turned towards Asuna.

"Asuna-san, just to clarify before we start, we appreciate your help, however..."

"The quest will be lead by your guilds, and we shall provide assistance, right?" Asuna replied before Lynd could finish his sentence. "I have no intention to argue about who leads the raid, especially if this is an urgent matter that concerns the welfare of the players."

"In that case, we look forward to your strength." Lynd muttered in reply.

"Asuna-san, I suppose your group will be supporting Lynd-san and the DDA in their effort to locate the event boss on the 12th floor?" Thinker asked.

"Yes, at least that's what we intend to do. There is a chance that our group will also divide our forces between the 12th floor and [Starting City] as well." Asuna replied.

"That would be perfect, as the DDA will be focusing solely on the 12th floor. Diabel will be leading our forces on the 12th floor to assist Lynd-san as well, so our defending forces may need some assistance from experienced players."

"Thinker-san, you'll be stationed in [Starting City] will you not?" Asuna asked the leader of the ALF.

"Yes, as will Lancel and Coper. However, neither of us have enough influence outside of our guild. It would be highly beneficial if you could lead the group that helps defend [Starting City]." Thinker suggested.

"I don't think I have that much influence... there are many players that are better than I am." Asuna replied, slightly embarrassed by the fact that Thinker was referring to her as some sort of celebrity.

"There is little doubt that you are well known as the strongest female player, and the truth isn't that far off either." Diabel clarified. "However, the most important fact is that you are the most well known, and will boost the morale of the defending troops. Unlike Lynd-san's scouting group, the defenders in [Starting City] will be formed by players with much less experience. We need someone capable of giving confidence to the troops, to convince them that they are able to defend the city and survive."

"Well, I'll think about it. To be frank, I feel that I would be able to contribute more if I join Lynd-san's scouting group, but if I'm needed at [Starting City] I'll do what I can." Asuna resigned to the decision.

"Thank you Asuna-san. Lancel will brief you on our operations in [Starting City], as well as how our members will be divided. If possible, please arrange to have your group ready by noon tomorrow." Thinker thanked Asuna, who nodded in reply as she exited with Lancel.

Watching the two exit the stage, Lynd turned to Thinker and Diabel.

"You narrowly avoided a disaster... good work." Lynd grinned at the two.

"Although my intentions were as such to begin with, I'll admit the side-effect of keeping Kibaou away from Asuna-san was a fortunate thing." Thinker shrugging his shoulders as he replied.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, Diabel-san and I will be heading to arrange the scouting party. I suppose I should expect another dozen players or so from the scattered groups? We'll have everything planned by tomorrow morning."

"Thank you for your understanding, Lynd-san. I entrust the 12th floor to you and Diabel." Thinker bowed to the two, concluding the meeting.

_This will probably become a turning point, the point where the roads of fate start diverging between the players. I'd better make sure that the ALF doesn't lose its way..._

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**Date: [December 21, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [23:55]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Decium Grande - Dark Alleyways]**

Kirito's group stood at the end of a darkened passageway, looking at the dead end of the alley.

"Yeven-san, please lead the way." Kirito spoke to the old man, who nodded as he materialized a staff in his hands.

"Systemcall - Generate Luminous Element" Yeven chanted as a ball of light appeared at the end of his staff. Walking towards the wall, Yeven's body faded into the wall.

"Oh! So the wall was just an illusion?" Kirito exclaimed as he reached towards the wall, watching his hand pass through the stone textured illusion. Taking a breath, Kirito walked past the illusionary wall.

Once inside, the entire atmosphere changed completely, as if the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees. The moisture in the air was higher, and Kirito held his throat uncomfortably as the moist air irritated him.

Holding his knightsword as a torch, Kirito looked down the pathway that lead into the caves, behind him Fate put away her weapon, as she held out her hand and summoned a ball of lightning.

"Looks like it'll be hard to use your scythe in these caves, be careful when the mobs get near you." Kirito warned.

"I'll try." Fate responded, as she manipulated her menus and materialized a shortsword that Kirito had her buy at the marketplace earlier.

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The tunnels extended father than Kirito's expectations, and after half an hour of walking the group has yet to reach the exit. While Kizmel and her men usually disposed the mobs along the way, occasionally Kirito would have the opportunity to fight the snakes and spiders within the caves.

As Kirito expected, the mobs in the tunnel seemed easier than the mobs on the lower levels, and the two had little issues dealing with the mobs. While watching Fate fight three [Cave Spider] simultaneously, Kirito noticed that Fate's attacks seemed slower than usual.

"Do you need a hand?" Kirito asked, noting that Fate was having a harder time than he expected.

"Can't say the fight is going smoothly, but I can take them out." Fate replied, with a slight tint of tension in her voice.

Nodding, Kirito concentrated on the fight, as he observed Fate's movements. Her movements were fluid as usual, but it seemed that she made to few attacks for her speed. It was almost as if her movement speed was detrimental to her attacking strength.

_It would seem that she's not hitting hard enough, I guess my original guess was wrong, and that Fate probably has much more put into AGI than STR. In that case it would be best to sacrifice quality of strikes, and improve the quantity of strikes. That means..._

Watching the fight, Kirito decided to wait until later to give the suggestion, as right now would be an inappropriate time. Turning to the next mob, Kirito charged forwards and rejoined the fight as the group cleared out the spawn.

"Kismel-san, how much do you know about these caverns?" Kirito turned to the Dark-Elf leader after the last mob was killed.

"Nothing, though I have heard rumors about underground escape passages that the royals used when the city is under siege. I guess this is one of the ones that has been abandoned for many years..." Kizmel replied, as Yeven nodded in acknowledgement.

"That is correct. As a matter of fact, there are few besides myself that know of this passage. Unfortunately, not even I am sure of the dangers that lurk in the shadows, though if our experience is correct then there must be a darker force that caused the infestation of these caverns."

_In other words, we'll have to fight a field boss before we are in the clear... _Kirito complained inside his head, as he contemplated the conditions of the quest.

"Kizmel-san, do you have any extra intelligence gathered about Finarfin meeting Scrooge?" Kirito asked.

"Unfortunately we have little to go on, apart from the fact that it is unlikely that he would be meeting someone in broad daylight. Also, we are 90% sure that the meeting will not take place outside the Elven lands." Kizmel replied.

"Is it not possible that the meeting would occur on other floors? Finarfin does plan on heading to the 12th floor to resurrect a great evil... at least that's what I've gathered." Kirito argued.

"That is true, but unless he has found a way to lift the curse placed on all Elves, he cannot leave the lands for a prolonged period of time." Kizmel spoke sadly.

"I never heard about it... what is this curse you talk of?" Kirito asked, surprised at the sudden revelation.

"This land you call Aincrad is the source of our curse. Our scriptures tell of a time where magic was abundant in the lands and we were free to roam the lands as we pleased. However, one day a forbidden spell was activated, a taboo sorcery that destroyed the landscape and resulted in these floating lands." Yeven explained as he walked over. "As our punishment, we Elves cannot go beyond the 10th floor without having our life-force dwindle at each passing moment."

"But I thought Elves were immortal?" Kirito asked.

"Yes it is true, and the only way for an Elf in these lands to perish is through battle, or through venturing into the upper floors, where it is believed that the magic sustaining our lives cannot reach." Kizmel added. "So while it is possible for Finarfin to travel to the 12th floor, he would not go there unless for an important and short mission."

_So I stumbled on another bit of information that isn't really relevant... why do I keep bumping into these situations... or is this part of another scheme? _A random thought popped into Kirito's mind.

"In any case, our first priority is to get escape these caverns. We shouldn't have much further to go." Kizmel turned to her men, and ordered to resume.

"We should be prepared to fight a boss monster soon." Kirito added, "It is likely to be in the next large chamber."

"You mean something similar to a legendary beast or a cursed beast? Your human terms are interesting as usual... but we will be prepared for such a foe as well." Kizmel responded.

Kizmel and her men started continuing onwards, and as Kirito was about to follow Yeven stepped in front of him.

"I see you've learnt much about our race and our lands. However, as an outside I must warn you of the dangers of becoming too involved. One day you may reach the point of no return." Yeven muttered his warning in an ominous, as the old man continued to walk down the dark caverns.

_What was that supposed to mean? _Kirito wondered, as he glanced to his quest log, which was absent of any updates. Turning his attention back to the caverns, Kirito quickened his pace to catch up with the group.

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**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [01:00]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Outside Decium Grande - Abandoned Church]**

"Finarfin-sama, as you ordered, we have sent scouts to monitor the exits from the city. If the queen is to escape by those routes we will certainly be informed." An elf wearing a cloak kneeled in front of his Elven master, who stood looking at the chapel pedestal.

"Good, we must not allow this disturbance to change our goals. It is most unfortunate that we will be unable to use the queen as a piece in our plans, but her sacrifice is preferred to having another party use her against us." Finarfin contemplated. "We have gone too far into the darkness to turn back, and if pandemonium is what will set us free... so be it."

At this time, another elf entered the chambers, as Finarfin turned around.

"I see your operations are going well brother." The elf commented. "The sacrifice of my men helped you I suppose? My men have informed me of the heightened tension between the Wood-elf and Dark-elf tribes, now that one of their captains have been slain in the joint operation. If the pillage succeeds, the next step would be to stage the assassinations of the leaders of all the Elven kingdoms, and chaos will ensue."

"Fingolfin, I did not expect your visit. I suppose the disappearance of the Dark-Elf queen has startled your sources as well. How is the search coming about?" Finarfin asked.

"We have determined that the queen's disappearance to be of her own doing, in an attempt to cause confusion within those who have allied with us. It would seem that the other kingdoms have been placed on high alert due to her actions, although it would be unlikely to affect our chances of succeeding an assassination attempt." Fingolfin replied.

"What of the usual?"

"We have determined that the source is human. Unfortunately, the destruction of the dark seal will delay our plans significantly, as once a host is cleansed it cannot be resealed. Your eldest brother is formulating a plan to create new hosts, but we must also prevent any more seals from being destroyed."

"And my request?"

"Ah, yes... brother Fëanor told me to give you this." Fingolfin took out a black box, and placed it on pedestal. Opening the box, a medallion with a deal seal was shown, emitting an evil aura. "This medallion will be able to resurrect the betrayer, but you will need a way to teleport it to the first floor. Keep in mind that you will be severely damaged just by heading to the floor where it is buried, any miscalculation may lead to your demise."

"I understand the risks, but our mission must be completed. The raid on the human city will have little meaning if I cannot raze the city to the ground. To do this, I need the power of that monster." Finarfin smiled inwardly, as he realized that this move would probably make him lose his life.

"In that case, I suppose today is the day we part ways." Fingolfin materialized two crystal cups, and a container full of red liquid. "May we do glorious battle, and drown in the enemies' blood!"

The two glasses rang a chilly note, and the two Trinity members toasted their wine.

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**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [2:00]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Decium Grande - Underground Cavern]**

_Well, as expected, here it is... _Kirito thought as he viewed the giant tarantula, which towered a good two meters in heights, and several meters in diameter.

"Spread out! We'll each take out one leg!" Kizmel ordered, as the group split up and surrounded the field boss.

The field boss - 'The giant tarantula', did not respond to the actions of Kizmel's group, and only when one of Kizmel's men slashed the spider's leg did the spider react. Lifting the leg into the air, it stabbed into the ground, as the Elven guard jumped backwards.

_Odd, this monster is extremely slow for a spider-type mob... oh well, I'll think about it after we finish it off._

Kirito stabbed his knight-sword into the wall for illumination, and charged towards the spider's leg. Confirming the feel of the blade as its [Slant] slashed through the spider's leg, Kirito assessed the field boss to be one of lower difficulty.

_Looks like we're finally getting a break... things sure have been hectic lately._

"Incoming spit, dodge it!" Kirito yelled as the spider lifted its head, red eyes glowed in the dark

Watching the spider stand on its rear legs, Kirito instinctively dodged to the side as the spider sprayed its venom at the group. Unfortunately the venom had a wide spread, and many got caught in the attack - suffering a short paralysis debuff.

"Kirito, cover for me!" Fate charged past Kirito, being immune to the status effects, and brought her scythe onto the Tarantula's exposed mouth, the spider screeched in pain and slashed its forward legs at the scythe-user.

Sparks flew as Kirito blocked both strikes with his [Horizontal], and continued to charge underneath the spider. Lighting up his weapon, Kirito's [Horizontal Square] left cuts on all the spider's remaining six legs, as he rolled out of the way from the collapsing spider.

Glancing at the spider's HP, Kirito was shocked to see that the mob had already lost 3 of its 4 bars.

"Watch out, there's something unusual about this boss!" Kirito yelled as he put some more distance. He watched Fate lift her scythe over her head, and slash the spider on the head.

All of a sudden, a blob of slime engulfed the area where the spider was, and 'The Giant Tarantula' melted into a pool of mush. Kirito looked up at the ceiling, and to his horror his gaze was met with eight red eyes.

The ground quivered as the new Tarantula landed on the ground, being twice the size of the previous Tarantula. The mouth of the Tarantula took on a funnel shape, as the monster sucked up the remains of the previous floor boss. Kirito watched as the formerly red eyes glowed crimson and become yellowish in color, and a dark aura began to spread from the monster.

_Looks like the first monster was merely an appetizer... and by the looks of it we're the main dish..._

"Scatter!" Kirito shouted as the Tarantula sped forward with great speed, its advance blocked by one of Kizmel's men, the spider quickly swiped its leg towards the man and sent him flying.

"Concentrate on its back legs, we need to slow it down." Kizmel ordered, as she and her men charged at the spider's left side. The spider nimbly dodged away from the group, and jumped backwards.

Recognizing the attack pattern, Kirito was quick to warn the others.

"Fall back, projectiles!" Kirito dived onto the floor as the Tarantula shot out poisonous spikes from its abdomen, its urticating hairs flying towards the group.

Several moans were heard as Kizmel's men were not all able to avoid in time, Kirito took a quick glance to assess the situation, and realized that their fighting force was halved from that attack alone.

"Take cover, we'll need to time our attacks." Kirito yelled as he sprinted behind a rock.

"Kirito! Above you!" Fate shouted at Kirito as she charged towards his direction, parrying the Tarantula's leg as it stabbed down towards Kirito's hiding spot.

Coming out from behind the rock, Kirito jumped off the rock into mid air, and launched a [Sonic Leap] towards the spider's head, stabbing it between its fangs, Kirito jumped over the Tarantula's head and landed on its back.

"Ouch!" Kirito yelped as the long urticating hairs scratched his legs, and he stabbed his sword into the spider's body to prevent himself from falling into the field of thorns.

"Kirito, get off quickly, it can shoot those hairs at you." Kizmel warned from afar, having helped her men recover, however her warning was too late, as the spider used its legs and brushed the hairs off its back.

"Uh-oh!" Kirito gulped as he witnessed the cloud of spikes flying his way, just as he was about to be impaled, a figure charged at him and knocked him off the spider.

"Fate! What are you doing?!" Kirito exclaimed in surprise, as he and Fate fell to the floor. Watching the girl wince in pain, Kirito quickly helped her brush off the spikes on her back.

"I'm immune to the status effects, so it's safer for me to take the damage." Fate responded as she took out a potion and consumed it. Kirito was at a loss of words, as he watched the girl's HP recover to the yellow zone.

"It's coming!" Fate snapped Kirito out of his trance, and the two dodged just in time. The two players dodged underneath the spider's abdomen, and initiated their skills.

"Horizontal Square!" "Slash Crescent." Streaks of blue and gold reflected off the cave walls as the two marked the spider's legs with cuts.

Falling back and making some distance, Kirito observed the Tarantula's HP, which had barely lost any HP.

"Well, at least this spider's the last one we'll have to squash..." Kirito muttered.

"Kirito-san, do you have a dagger by the name of 'The Sting'?" Yeven's question startled Kirito, as he glanced at the old man.

"Not on me... why ask?" Kirito replied without a clue as to what the man was asking.

"Because if legends are true, than this monster should be weak to that weapon..."

"You should have warned me earlier!" Kirito sighed in frustration, since once again Yeven gave him information that would have been useful, if not for the current situation. "Any other suggestions as to how to deal with this overgrown insect?"

"Well, there's also the light of the Eärendil... though that is also an impossibility..." Yeven continued to mutter, to Kirito's disappointment.

As Kirito averted his glance from the old man, an idea popped into his mind. Running back to the entrance of the cave, he grabbed his Holy Knight-sword that he used to illuminate the cave, and sprinted towards the spider.

Jumping into the air, Kirito did aerial twist in the air and landed on the spider's back. Lifting his knight-sword into the air and stabbed it into the spider's neck.

_Well, here goes nothing... if this quest is as messed up as it has been, then this might work..._

"Systemcall - Genesis!" Kirito chanted, as the dim glow of the knight-sword suddenly flared to the brightness of the sun. A white pillar shot to through the spider's head and into the ground, and Kirito lifted swung his sword upwards cutting the mob cleanly in half.

As the spider shattered into fragments, Kirito landed on the floor and sat on the ground stunned at what had happened, he didn't even notice the level-up message.

"What kind of a cop-out was that?!" Kirito wailed as he looked at the fissure he had cut into the ground, along with the disintegrated fieldboss.

Author's Notes:

I'm hoping that most of you are disappointed at the resolution of the fight just now... because otherwise I'd have another reason to be disappointed at myself.

As you may have noticed, some shameless LoTR references here (again...)... guess Kirito should have his allies return the unique weapons to him after they're done with it... you never know when Kirito's going to need the use of an obscure outdated dagger... (Or maybe he should have brought Silica along for the ride... lol)

Anyways... next chapter will be another Kayaba side, so don't expect it to be too long. It's supposed to give some explanation as to why the dungeon boss fight became such a cop out, and hopefully lead to further events...

Until then...

Cheat Notes:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 10th)

Surviving Players: 94xx players.

*CHANGES: 

**NO CHANGES THIS CHAPTER!**

Non-Canon Characters:

Aki 30

Mika 18

Cocoa 12

Fate 28

Eclair 26

Aixen 26

Vendette 26

Lancel 27

Zevela 28

Yunda 28

Characters: 

Kirito 31

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15 + Orb of Light

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15 + Orb of Darkness

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

Orb of Light & Darkness

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 5S3D] 12/12

_(Unused) [Bullish Shield+9]_

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 3A3Q2S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 9Q] 12/12

Silica 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 3Q4S2A] 12/12

Lisbeth 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H4D] 12/12

Argo 23

L25 [Alloy Steel Claws 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Klein 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Agil 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 5H4D] 12/12

Sachi 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 2S3Q3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler+8] 12/12

Aki 30

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 1S5D] 6/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +5] 6/12

Fate 28

BA Series – Scythe

BA Series – Zamber Greatsword

Bardiche Assault – Gauntlets + Orb of Lightning

_L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword] 0/12_

Eclair 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3Q3S2D] 12/12

Aixen 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q4S] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q3S] 12/12

Vendette 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 5H2S3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 2H2S5D] 12/12

Lancel 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7H1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Zevela 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Tanto Dagger 7Q1A] 12/12

Yunda 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 8Q] 12/12

Coper 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Diabel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Kibaou 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Grande Buckler +7] 12/12

Lynd 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 6S1A2D] 12/12

_L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 9Q1D] 12/12_

Heathcliff 29

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S6D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Godfree 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 8H] 12/12

Kuradeel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 7S] 12/12

Keita 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Staff 3H4D] 12/12

Tetsuo 24

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H2D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Beowulf 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S4H] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Orlando 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S3A] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Issin 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Bident Spear 5Q2A] 12/12

Dale 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 6H] 12/12

ToCuFrU 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Axe 8H] 12/12

Trojan 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Haxor 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

DBoss

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

Mika 18

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler +8] 12/12

Cocoa 12

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Ducker (BCoFM) - 24

Sasamaru (BCoFM) - 24

Nezha - 25

Other 'Legend Brave' 22-27

Other Fuurinkazan 25-27

Other DDA 22-27

/Thinker (ALF) - 25

Other ALF 21-28

Daizan (KoB) (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

Floor Opening History:

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17

Groupings: (Only listing significant characters)

A: Asuna, Kibaou

B: Aki

C: Lancel, Sachi

D: Dale, Lynd

E: Issin, Zevela

F: Agil, DBoss

G: Godfree, Keita, Yunda,

H: Diabel, Heathcliff

I: Beowulf, ToCuFrU

J: Éclair, Silica

K: Tetsuo, Trojan

L: Leafa, Kuradeel

M: Klein, Vendette

N: Aixen, Orlando

O: Haxor,

P: Coper, Fate, Kirito


	72. Kayaba Side – Observers & the Observed

**Kayaba Side – The Observers and the Observed**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Notes:

So yeah, I did end up getting a chapter out... though only a mini-chapter... hey, I warned everyone beforehand.

Q&A:

zinmaster24: Sorry, I don't watch Naruto so I missed your reference, but I'll guarantee if Kirito shows up half-way, it'll be clichéd as heck, and he'll be a big ham... lol

As for Kirito's soul-searching, I've already picked Klein as the guy who'll assess his growth... just got to figure out how to make is somewhat amusing...

Unfortunately, with all the stuff going on, Diabel's been getting the shaft, being more or less a PR figure at this point. With the ALF splitting between attack and defense, Diabel will get more screen time, which will also lead to the next stage... but before that he needs to survive Heathcliff to build his rep...

Argo despises the NEET squad mainly because they give gamers a bad name, and especially in a life-and-death situation, they truly are dirt...

Kojiro Kun: It's all a coincidence... after all, nobody noticed Elven engravings on Silica's dagger back then... unless maybe if you attach an orb onto it... (mind runs wild with hypothetical fantasies... lol) Anyways, Kirito's fighting Finarfin in Ch.73, hope that will keep the tension up.

FrostyMouse: If Finarfin's going to die, he'd better die by someone sword... (or maybe I should do some research and see how to make him die...) Oh, and hopefully this chapter explains the oddity of these 'abnormal' boss fights.

Tama Saga: Sadly, I'm running out of ways to kill boss monsters... probably going to have to start researching 'exceptions' that can occur while fighting a boss in an RPG game... ;-)

Guest: Well, it IS a hacked cop-out move, so it's not full powered.

guy: Maybe... or maybe higher... you'll see next chapter.

Anonymous149: Leafa will find Kirito before this arc ends. However, whether she will reveal herself is another issue. (I'm still debating on that... since it'll delay her character growth...)

Bobbo: First of all, I'm honored that you're even considering my fanfic worth comparing to Halkegina Online and Fairy Dance of Death. Personally I feel that I'll need a few more years of fanfic writing to reach their complexity / level of organization, but I suppose my goals for writing aren't as high level. Nonetheless, I'll try to improve, but just don't count on my getting better overnight. Baby steps is my current speed... (and with work and all that... I'm struggling just to keep going without lagging too much... lol)

Krawling Khaos: I don't think I saw anything that would offend me, so definitely none taken. I'm actually interested in your comment about the flow... is it directed towards the fact that certain chapters feel disjointed? Or do you just feel everything was just 'pulled out of nowhere'? I've been trying to address most of those issues, so it'd be great if you could point out anything I missed.

As for the OC issue... sorry but please tolerate my indulgence... I plan to flesh out the OC's that I have introduced, which may take time. However, one goal of my fanfic is to flesh out the main characters by their interactions outside of the cannon group, so in this case OC's are necessary.

Leafa's development will continuous throughout the next few arcs, where I hope to develop her character more than what she was in the original LN (which IMHO was slightly disappointing... then again, SAO was never a 'character development' novel series.)

As for Sinon, I have no way of coherently inserting her into SAO at this time, since she doesn't play MMO, and nor does she have a way to get into the system. Later on an opportunity may present itself through the Medicuboid, but at this time it doesn't make sense to insert cannon character. (Much like how I can't insert Yuki yet either...)

I'm still drafting how I'm going to implement bows into the system, since the game is still SAO... expecting bows to be significantly nerfed when they come into play. I may add another upgrade for it later though...

I've added a 'Changes' section for the notes at the end... though honesty those notes are intended for my own use... (mainly so I don't get the levels / equipment wrong)

Anyways... back to the chapter !

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

**[Date: December 22, 2022]**

Japan Standard Time: [02:30]

Location: [Unknown]

Despite being past midnight, Kayaba felt no urge to sleep. His mind was too preoccupied with the events that were occuring inside the world he had created - a world that imprisoned 10,000 people.

"Akihiko, you really should get some rest. It's not efficient to be sleeping so late. Most of the players in SAO have already entered sleep mode, so you should relax while you can." Rinko chided Kayaba as she brought him a blanket.

"Rinko ga..." Kayaba stopped as he met Rinko's glare, and turned to his console with slight embarrassment.

"That joke's no longer funny." Rinko spoke sternly. "Now is there anything that you need to finish off urgently, or should I pull the power plug to your computer?"

"At this point, nothing really urgent, however I have noticed that the Cardinal's quest generation algorithm has been under quite a bit of stress. It would seem that it is trying too hard to regulate the world." Kayaba replied.

"If it's not urgent, then it can wait. Cardinal's an advanced system that you designed to be several generations ahead of common technology; I can't imagine it to fail so easily."

"I suppose you're right. Maybe I should call it a day..." Kayaba's reply was cut short as the screen suddenly became red, as a warning popped up.

"[Warning: Cardinal Quest Generator Overload. Launching Fail-safe Mode]..." Rinko stuttered as she read the warning message.

Kayaba quickly started typing on his keyboard, and started manipulating the dozen windows that were summoned by Kayaba's keyboard commands.

"That doesn't make any sense..." Kayaba exclaimed. "Quest generation should be autonomous... yet this section of the quest was suddenly cut short by manual intervention... yet that should not be possible..."

"You mean there are others with access to SAO's server system?" Rinko asked, as she sat down at her own console and began to organize the data. "Our records show zero infiltrations beyond level 3, and nothing beyond level 2 during the last hour."

"Whatever it is, something caused a timing shift in the Christmas Event. Cardinal's original design of the quest would have the climax occur on the 24th, with a major encounter on the 23rd. The major event has somehow been shifted, so that it is possible to trigger the event starting in 2 hours." Kayaba noted.

"The timing issue is of little consequence right? So there must be something else that caused such a large reaction from you." Rinko noted.

"Yes, the main problem is that the source of the changes seem to be, once again, Kazuto-kun..." Kayaba answered. "As we anticipated from the beginning, Kirito's possession of the orbs of light and darkness led to Cardinal assigning him the spells [Oblivion] and [Genesis]. However the original programming should forbid him from using the spells in scenarios other than the scripted events which the spells were mandatory."

"So you're saying someone, or something changed the conditions, and allowed him to use these game-breaking spells?" Rinko asked.

"Not exactly, the warning message we received was a result or Kirito triggering [Genesis]. Although the magnitude of the spell was significantly tuned down. As long as the spell cannot be recast regularly, the only issue would be that the character Kirito would have gained some free experience." Kayaba turned back to his console, and opened up several windows.

"The problem lies in the NPC mob 'Yeven', who was directly controlled by Cardinal to ask Kirito several questions leading to his usage of the sword with the [Orb of Light], and eventually [Genesis]."

"That's impossible, the system is designed to prevent such imbalances at all cost. No to mention the fact that Cardinal does not actually distinguish between players, as it is set to disassociate with individual constructs... unless an external factor is affecting it..." Rinko's eyes grew wide as she spoke.

"Currently I have two hypotheses about the situation. Either the phenomenon from earlier created a electronic parasite within our SAO servers, or there is an external intrusion that we are not aware of and are unable to detect." Kayaba stated.

"Through our data logs, we have already determined the chance of undiscovered intrusion is less than 0.01%, which is as good as impossible. On the other side, the notion of having an electronic life-form live within our systems is equally farfetched..." Rinko sighed at the outlandish suggestions that Kayaba came up with.

"Between improbable and implausible... I admit that even I have a hard time believing that there is no logical explanation. Though the existence of an electronic life-form may not be so farfetched as we originally thought." Kayaba smiled. "If my experiment succeeds, then I'll technically become the first human-made electronic lifeform..."

"Akihiko! You told me that you wouldn't try using that until it was ready." Rinko voice raised by an octave as she exclaimed.

"Calm down, I won't be using _that mode_ until the very end. We've had this discussion many times before, and you promised me that you would not stop me when I do decide to follow through..." Kayaba replied with sadness in his voice.

"Yes... my apologies..." Rinko lowered her head as she muttered.

"I'm sorry as well Rinko, I know what I'm putting you through, but I've gone too far to stop here. If I stop now, those that have perished would have been for nothing." Kayaba turned back to his console and continued working.

"Kayaba, why didn't you perform this experiment through normal means? It would have been slower, but you would have needed to ruin your life and harm all those people..."

"No, it would not have worked, there's no way that I can get enough people to volunteer their time for this. Besides, I never intended to hide behind the facade of 'the greater good', in order to mask my wicked intention. I am a crazed, wicked man who trapped 10,000 people in a virtual world. If one day my results benefit the entire human race, I do not want to be credited with it, nor do I want to be viewed as some kind of visionary."

_How am I supposed to understand you? _Rinko thought, as she sighed in frustration. Turning back to her console, she continued to execute Kayaba's orders to organize the information.

"Calibration complete. I have realigned our data monitors to track any unusual changes to Cardinal's quest generation processes. At this time our servers will be under increased load, and we may need to sacrifice some superficial information to the police if they attempt to hack the system." Kayaba smirked as he spoke. "As for Sugou, maybe I should allow him to perform an uplink in the near future... I may be interested in the little project that he is planning."

"Shouldn't we simply expose his plans to the police, and have him arrested so he is no longer a threat to us? His access could compromise our location as well, and we are running out of places to run..." Rinko replied.

"No... Sugou's plan may be very crude, but it is still effective enough to be able to extract the data that I need. Obviously I'll need to see if his preparatory work was sufficient, though if he is backed by international parties he must have been prepared. I will exploit this opportunity when it arises." Kayaba concluded, as he turned off his console.

"Finally sleeping?" Rinko asked.

"Yes... it looks like tomorrow may be a long day as well. I'll take your advice and take care of my body." Kayaba replied as he walked into his sleeping quarters.

Noticing the blanket that was left on the chair, Rinko sighed as she shut off her console. She picked up the blanket, and carried in her left hand as she joined Kayaba in the sleeping quarters. Behind her, the monitor flickered as it shut down, leaving a slight afterimage of the shutdown process.

[Recording complete... file stored]

**Author Notes:**

A short Kayaba-side chapter as usual... this time with a little more interaction between the two characters who are monitoring the game's progress.

It seems like Kayaba will be rejoining the players soon as Heathcliff, and with the upgraded equipment Kayaba will definitely have an edge over the players using NERVEgear systems.

(For the record, Kayaba's experimental system at this point is similar to an upgraded Medicuboid.)

Next chapter we'll be going back to the aftermath of Kirito's field-boss battle, where we'll see more action coming up... The night is far from over...


	73. The Deceiver

**Finarfin the Deceiver**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Notes:

Another short chapter... trying to get myself back in the writing mood... life's been busy so not too much free time either.

Q&A:

(Sorry, I'm lagging behind as usual... so I'll save the Q&A for next chapter again.)

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [2:30]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Decium Grande - Underground Cavern]**

"What kind of a cop-out was that?!" Kirito voice echoed on the cave walls as he looked at the fissure he had cut into the ground, along with the disintegrated fieldboss.

"Kirito-san, what are you talking about? You just performed a miracle there." Kizmel exclaimed as she walked over to the boy.

"I'm still surprised that I actually did that. It's almost some power induced me to invoke the spell." Kirito replied, still slightly confused as to why everything happened the way it did.

"Try not to understand the workings of the divine, young hero. You are destined to do great things, which may be well beyond your understanding. Just believe in your instincts, and let them guide your path." Yeven claimed cryptically.

_Your hint was hardly an instinct though... it's as if you were leading my thoughts in the direction that you wanted... _Kirito thought, as he looked at the old man.

"Now that the monsters have been eliminated, we should be able to exit the caverns. This way..." Yeven announced as he headed down the path alone.

Kirito turned back to his character window, and paused as the 'level up' dialogue. He was slightly surprised by the fact that he leveled up twice, but since Fate had already set a precedent he wasn't as shocked.

_This quest almost seems like it's being tailored for us as we go... but oh well... I'm not complaining if it makes leveling easier... _Kirito thought as he closed the level popup.

Looking at the LA bonus item, Kirito grinned as he materialized the item and opened the menu. The ring called [Ring of Stability] granted immunity to poison, as well as 50% resistance to stun and paralysis.

_Well... this ring just made the entire quest worth its while... though something still seems wrong with the quest... giving this out during a mid-boss seems too easy, unless the final LA bonus item is even better... _Kirito thought as he equipped the ring on his right hand.

"Kirito-san, please hurry up, we don't want to spread ourselves out too much." Kizmel's voice echoed from the passageway further downwards.

Closing his windows, Kirito began to quicken his pace as he caught up, when he noticed that Fate had a distracted expression.

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked his companion.

"Oh... nothing... it must be my imagination." The blonde girl replied as she caught up to Kirito.

Ten minutes later, the group stood at what seemed to be the exit of the caverns, Kizmel and her men were talking about the possible locations of the meeting, while Kirito and Fate stood listening.

"We expect Finarfin to be located close to the city, as the queen's disappearance must have given him incentive to keep a close watch. At this point we will have to split up and scout for the enemies. We will meet here in one hour." Kizmel commanded, as her men bowed and exited the cave.

"Now, Kirito-san, Yeven and I will follow you, as you are probably our best hope at location Finarfin. If past events are any indicator, it is very likely that you will be the one to find a clue regarding his whereabouts."

Kirito nodded at Kizmel's suggestion, while the event quest should have been geared towards all players in general, Kirito had already realized that somehow the system had selected him as the focal point of the quest.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go." Kirito replied as he walked out into the night sky of the 10th floor.

Walking into the open fields, Kirito momentarily felt a chill in his spine, and he turned around to see nothing behind him. Kizmel looked at Kirito, noticing his odd behavior, but the boy shook his head indicating that nothing was wrong.

After 10 minutes of walking, Kirito's group entered a small forest, and the light of the moon was blocked off by the canopy of leaves. Alert of his surroundings, Kirito drew his sword and prepared for an ambush.

"You don't need to be too stressed Kirito-san, our scouts have verified that there are no monsters that dwell in this forest." Kizmel assured Kirito.

"How come? It's abnormal for a forest like this to be deserted..." Kirito asked.

"Which is the reason that we are here... I suspect the reason this area is devoid of wildlife is due to the infestation of darkness." Kizmel replied.

Suddenly, Fate stopped walking all of a sudden, and Kirito turned to the girl.

"Is something wron.." Kirito's question was halted by Fate who held her hand with a stop gesture.

Closing her eyes, the girl turned her head slightly, then with a flash drew her scythe and disappeared from view.

"Right there!" Fate shouted as she slashed with her scythe, sparks flying as she hit her target, paralyzing it with electricity. Without stopping to confirm her hit, Fate drew several throwing picks and threw it at a spot that seemed to be empty.

Kirito immediately charged towards the direction that Fate's picks flew, and launched his [Sonic Leap] before he confirmed the sound of the picks being parried. As the cloaked figure faded into view, Kirito's blade came slashing down on the figure.

Barely managing to block Kirito's attack, the shadowy figure's cloak came off, and revealed the appearance of an Elf. The Elf's eyes glowed red with evil intent, as he pushed backwards and turned to run.

"Kirito-san! Follow him, he is Finarfin's scout!" Kirito sprinted in pursuit of the Elf as Kizmel shouted, but he quickly realized that his AGI stat would be unable to keep up with the escaping mob.

As Kirito slowed down his pace in resignation, Fate dashed past Kirito like a bullet, and continued to chase the Elf.

"Leave it to me!" Fate's voice disappeared into the darkness, as Kirito turned around and regrouped with Kizmel.

Returning to Kizmel's group, Kirito was met with a shower of polygons. Startled by the effect that indicated a death, Kirito quickly called out to Kizmel.

"Is everyone OK?" Kirito asked in a panic.

"Yes, but the enemy scout killed himself... so we're out of leads..." Kizmel replied in a disappointed tone.

"There's still hope, follow me quickly." Kirito replied as he opened his friend's list and activated his newly acquired [Tracking] ability on Fate, causing his vision to change color and display a bright line showing the Fate's tracks.

5 minutes later, Kirito finally caught up with Fate's tracks, as he saw the girl stand at the edge of a small clearing in the forest.

"Impossible, our scouts never told us about this..." Kizmel muttered, as she looked at the decrepit building that stood in the clearing.

"It's possible that our scouts were either misdirected or corrupted, we will have to inspect and purify your men after this." Yeven added.

"Well, it looks like we've discovered Finarfin's hideout now." Kirito said as he approached the girl that was waiting for him.

"There are at least 6 people inside the church, one scout on the roof, and two guards at the main entrance. Also, there is some sort of field that prevents me from going closer to the building." Fate reported to Kirito as he kneeled down alongside her.

"So first we'll need to deal with the barrier, though I suppose Kizmel or Yeven will have the answer for that. Afterwards, we'll need to surround them and prevent anyone from escaping, but with our numbers it will be difficult, especially when Finarfin and Scrooge are likely to be boss-leveled." Kirito whispered.

As the group took cover behind the trees, Kizmel walked over to Kirito quietly, and observed the church as well.

"Yeven will coordinate my men to surround the church and prevent people from escaping, and in the meantime we can rush in and deal with Finarfin. It will likely be a difficult battle, but Yeven told me that he has an area spell that will even the playing field for us." Kizmel spoke to the two quietly.

"Is there the possibility of the two escaping while their men delay us?" Fate asked.

"It's possible, but as long as we finish the fight quickly we still have a good chance." Kizmel replied.

"Well, it seems like we have no choice, how long will it take Yeven to ready the spell?" Kirito asked.

"Five minutes at most..." Kizmel replied

"Good, let's get ourselves ready as well." Kirito replied, as he materialized both swords.

As the group got into position, Kirito looked at Yeven, who seemed to be deep concentration, reciting a spell under his breath.

_Well, guess I won't be able to ask him for pointers this time around..._ Kirito thought as he prepared for the signal to charge into the church.

The plan was for Kirito, Fate and Kizmel to charge into the church while Kizmel's men assisted Yeven in taking out the three guards outside. Once the guards are eliminated, the remaining of Kizmel's men would also join in the fight against Finarfin - at least if everything goes well that should be the case.

Walking up to Fate and Kizmel, Kirito drew both his swords and bend his knees, awaiting for Yeven's signal to charge into the church.

"Try to take out the two guards blocking the entrance if we can." Kizmel said, as both Kirito and Fate nodded and took out a handful of throwing picks.

"_星の光__..._" Yeven's chanting caught the attention of the three attackers, and Fate opened her eyes in shock when she heard the chanting of the Elven elder.

"Impossible..." Fate muttered, as Yeven continued his chant.

"_I summon the light of destruction down upon my prisoners. Stars, gather, and become the light which pierces everything. Tear through everything in a blaze of light._"

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked Fate, who was visibly shaken at this point.

"I can understand his chanting, this spell... it's name is..." Fate's explanation was interrupted by Yeven's shout.

"Systemcall - Starlight Breaker!"

The entire night was lit up by the shining beam that assaulted the church, which was blocked by a dark sphere barrier that defended the area. In a few moments, the dark sphere started to cackle, as small cracks developed on the surface.

"Kirito-san, Fate-san, get ready!" Kizmel spoke as she narrowed her eyes, as soon as the cracks on the barriers started to widen.

Kirito looked at Fate, who nodded in return. Their talk would have to wait, after the upcoming battle. As the barrier finally shattered, the three rushed towards the church entrance at full speed.

As Yeven's spell dispersed the barrier, the three Elves guarding the outside of the church were struck briefly by the remaining energy of the spell. The Elf guarding the roof fell to the ground as Kizmel's men rained a shower of arrows on him, and the two blocking the entrance struggled to raise their weapons against the frontal assault that was being mounted.

"Ha!" Kirito easily parried the left guard's sword slash, as he returned with [Meteor Break], sending the Elf flying into the wall and shattering into oblivion. Without turning back to the other guard's shattering, Kirito kicked open the church door, and walked inside.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

"Well, what do we have here?" A lone voice echoed off the walls, as the three entered the cathedral.

"Finarfin..." Kizmel muttered, as she held her weapon in a defensive position.

"Ah, if it isn't Kizmel... your scouts were quite bothersome for the last few days, it was no easy task to keep them from discovering this location. Unfortunately, you have arrived just a little too late." Finarfin grinned, as one of the doors leading to the back of the church closed shut.

"Kizmel, the back door..." Kirito took a step forward, but stopped as Finarfin fixed his gaze on him. He could tell that that Elf was dangerous, and one careless move may put him in danger.

"I believe we have not met before, hero of Aincrad. My name is Finarfin, one of the leaders of the Underground, you may have heard us being referred to the Trinity. My brother tells me that you and your friends have caused quite a delay in his operations, and I hope you don't plan to interfere with my plans." Finarfin smiled wickedly as he slowly raised his sword towards Kirito.

"Depends whether you will surrender peacefully." Kirito grinned as he got ready to attack the man.

"Kirito, wait." Fate suddenly interrupted Kirito. "It doesn't make sense for one of our primary targets to fight us openly, there must be something more to this fight. Either he's stalling for time, or he has a planted a trap. We should have Kizmel and her men chase after Scrooge." Kirito nodded to Fate's suggestion, and turned to Kizmel.

"Kizmel-san, I'll need you and your men to chase after Scrooge, we'll handle Finarfin."

"Be careful against him, Finarfin's not only highly skilled in combat, he also has an exceptional mastery in spellcraft. You'll be at a severe disadvantage if he has time to cast spells at you." Kizmel warned, as she attempted to lead her men around Finarfin.

"Oh, I can't have you doing that can I?" Finarfin said as he raised his hand. "Systemcall - Generate Aerial Element, Discharge.". In an instant, the roof of the area leading to the back door was hit with a burst of air, barely missing the Kizmel and catching a few of her troops as the roof collapsed.

"Finarfin!" Kizmel lost her calm as she watched her men get buried, as she turned around and jumped at the Elf.

"Kizmel, stop!" Kirito reacted too late to warn Kizmel, who had lunged mid-air towards Finarfin.

"Systemcall - Generate Electrical Element, Discharge." Finarfin recited calmly, and a jolt of lightning struck the dark-elf mid-air, bouncing her off a row of seats and into the opposite wall.

Kirito looked over to Kizmel's icon, and saw that her HP had not decreased significantly, but the paralysis icon meant she was going to be out of commission for the time being. Gripping his twin swords, he prepared for Finarfin to attack him.

"I must say I'm not impressed, an excellent soldier, but slightly too inexperienced for a commander." Finarfin commented in Kizmel's direction, and then turned to Kirito.

"I am curious as to how you found our meeting location, would you care to tell me?" Finarfin's question confused Kirito, as he did not see any significance in the content.

"Why don't you ask your own men? Does it matter?" Kirito replied coldly.

"Just satisfying my own curiosity," Finarfin replied, "... you know, usually you're the one that's supposed to be asking questions."

"Well in that case, maybe I'll ask you this - why are you so eager to answer our questions? Are you trying to distract us? Or maybe you're trying to stall for time... are you even the real thing and not an imposter?" Kirito's question caused Finarfin's grin to disappear, as he raised his sword.

"It seems I've said too much then. No matter, I'll use a more practical way of keeping you here... forever." Finarfin raised his blade, as a dark aura emitted from his body. Three HP bars appeared on top of his head, as the name [Finarfin] appeared on top of his head.

_I guess I hit the nail on the head... now the question is, is this person really Finarfin... guess I'll find out soon._

Author's Notes:

Been running out of steam the last week, partially due to work and partially due to stuff IRL. Spring is always fun, especially when the climate is so unpredictable... tends to mess up the body really easily.

Anyways... hopefully by the end of this week I'll have the next half of the chapter done...

Cheat Notes:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 10th)

Surviving Players: 94xx players.

* RECENT CHANGES:

Kirito 33

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15 + Orb of Light

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15 + Orb of Darkness

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

Orb of Light & Darkness

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Non-Canon Characters:

Aki 30

Mika 18

Cocoa 12

Fate 28

Eclair 26

Aixen 26

Vendette 26

Lancel 27

Zevela 28

Yunda 28

Characters: 

Leafa 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 5S3D] 12/12

_(Unused) [Bullish Shield+9]_

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 3A3Q2S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 9Q] 12/12

Silica 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 3Q4S2A] 12/12

Lisbeth 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H4D] 12/12

Argo 23

L25 [Alloy Steel Claws 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Klein 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Agil 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 5H4D] 12/12

Sachi 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 2S3Q3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler+8] 12/12

Aki 30

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 1S5D] 6/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +5] 6/12

Fate 28

**BA Series – Scythe**

**BA Series – Zamber Greatsword**

**Bardiche Assault – Gauntlets + Orb of Lightning**

_L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword] 0/12_

Eclair 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3Q3S2D] 12/12

Aixen 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q4S] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q3S] 12/12

Vendette 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 5H2S3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 2H2S5D] 12/12

Lancel 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7H1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Zevela 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Tanto Dagger 7Q1A] 12/12

Yunda 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 8Q] 12/12

Coper 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Diabel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Kibaou 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Grande Buckler +7] 12/12

Lynd 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 6S1A2D] 12/12

_L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 9Q1D] 12/12_

Heathcliff 29

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S6D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Godfree 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 8H] 12/12

Kuradeel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 7S] 12/12

Keita 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Staff 3H4D] 12/12

Tetsuo 24

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H2D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Beowulf 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S4H] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Orlando 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S3A] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Issin 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Bident Spear 5Q2A] 12/12

Dale 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 6H] 12/12

ToCuFrU 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Axe 8H] 12/12

Trojan 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Haxor 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

DBoss

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

Mika 18

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler +8] 12/12

Cocoa 12

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Ducker (BCoFM) - 24

Sasamaru (BCoFM) - 24

Nezha - 25

Other 'Legend Brave' 22-27

Other Fuurinkazan 25-27

Other DDA 22-27

/Thinker (ALF) - 25

Other ALF 21-28

Daizan (KoB) (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

Floor Opening History:

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17

Groupings: (Only listing significant characters)

A: Asuna, Kibaou

B: Aki

C: Lancel, Sachi

D: Dale, Lynd

E: Issin, Zevela

F: Agil, DBoss

G: Godfree, Keita, Yunda,

H: Diabel, Heathcliff

I: Beowulf, ToCuFrU

J: Éclair, Silica

K: Tetsuo, Trojan

L: Leafa, Kuradeel

M: Klein, Vendette

N: Aixen, Orlando

O: Haxor,

P: Coper, Fate, Kirito


	74. The Deception

**The Deception**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Notes:

FINALLY, I'm able to complete the chapter... *SIGH*

Tons of stuff IRL to throw my release schedule into chaos... but at least I've gotten rid of a lot of junk in my house, and got the garden patched up... etc etc...

Unfortunately, focusing on RL has killed anytime that I wanted to spend on the fanfic, and I'm really feeling the effects of writing the chapter over an extended period of time... luckily I have the 'Notes' at the end of the chapter to at least keep things somewhat consistent.

Anyways... please treat me kindly this chapter, as it will probably contain quite a few consistency problems... I'll try to fix it up before I continue too far into the next few chapters...

Everyone... Thanks for waiting, and welcome back to SAO.

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [3:00]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Abandoned Church]**

Kirito glanced at his surroundings as Finarfin dropped into a combat stance, noticing that Kizmel and her troops were now trapped in the debris blocking the back doors.

_Should I try to assist Kizmel? Or should I concentrate on defeating Finarfin? _

As Kirito was momentarily distracted, Finarfin suddenly raised his hand.

"Systemcall - Generate Aerial Element, Discharge!" A blast of wind hit Kirito, momentarily knocking him off balance. Not missing the opportunity, Finarfin charged towards Kirito, unsheathing a curved blade endowed in a dark aura.

Sparks flew as Finarfin's dagger was blocked by the scythe that slashed horizontally towards his midsection, causing the Elf to jump back a few steps. As Finarfin raised his hand again, Fate closed the distance and engaged Finarfin in close quarters.

"A sound strategy to prevent my spell casting... however..." Finarfin grinned as he brandished another dagger from his cloak. "I have the weapon advantage!" Dashing towards Fate, Finarfin's daggers became a blur. Fate attempted to jump away, but quickly noticed that her path was blocked by the rows of benches. Raising her weapon frantically, she was unable to block all of Finarfin's attacks, as the daggers slashed mercilessly at her.

Kirito charged in with [Sonic Leap], and Finarfin disengaged the attack as he stepped sideways into one of the aisle between the benches, letting Kirito's sword cut a bench neatly into two. Wood shards flew into the air, as Kirito prepared for his next attack.

"Not too bad for a human, I suppose you were not chosen without reason." Finarfin grinned as he fixated his glaze at his opponents, as his raised his hands in preparation for another spell.

"Kirito, get down!" Kirito barely reacted quickly enough to duck down, as several throwing picks flew past him at Finarfin, electricity streaking through the air.

Finarfin interrupted his casting and swung his daggers to parry the throwing picks, and leaped sideways as Kirito charged towards him. Jumping over another bench, Finarfin attempted to make some distance, but his attempt was blocked by Fate who slashed her scythe through the air.

Now standing between the two players, Finarfin held his two daggers in a wide stance. He glanced to the left at Kirito then to the right, and brought his arms together in a cross position.

"Systemcall - Generate Thermal Element, Aquarius Element, Aerial Element." Finarfin muttered as the two players charged at him, raising their weapons to strike at the Elf. "Burst Discharge!"

Kirito felt as if a wall has smashed into him, as the resulting vapor explosion sent him flying away, negating his assault before he had the chance to contact. Crashing into a row of benches, Kirito's vision blacked out momentarily before he was able to confirm that his HP had dropped to the yellow zone.

Surprisingly, Finarfin did not capitulate on Kirito's momentary stun, and as Kirito regained his vision he realized the reason. Finarfin was holding both his daggers back in a crossed position, defending against Fate's scythe. Pushing back the girl's assault, Finarfin jumped backwards and behind yet another bench.

"I did not anticipate you to use the explosion to propel you towards the ceiling, I must admit I underestimated your ability... perhaps the hero isn't the one I should be focusing on." Finarfin said in a calm tone, as he turned to face the girl who had drawn her scythe backwards, momentarily turning his back to Kirito.

Realizing the opportunity, Kirito looked at Fate, confirming that she was ready to strike as he drew a handful of throwing picks. As Fate commenced her attack, Kirito threw his picks at Finarfin and charged with both blades.

As Finarfin readied himself to block Fate's attack, he felt the throwing picks hitting his body. Realizing Kirito's intention, Finarfin abandoned his intention to block Fate's attack, and instead dodged sideways. Turning back facing the two fighters, he managed to block Kirito's slashes with his two daggers.

"Switch!" Kirito jumps upwards an performs a backflip, as Fate charges towards Finarfin, having recovered from her previous strike. Finarfin slashes his blades defensively and blocks Fate's scythe.

Suddenly, Fate ducks down and slashes her scythe around her, knocking out the legs of the surrounding benches and causing them collapse towards the two. The move surprised Finarfin, and he missed the opportunity to launch an attack towards the girl while he blocked the collapsing benches.

Taking several steps backwards, Finarfin raised his hand to cast another spell, but was cut off as several throwing picks flew at him. Blocking the picks with his hand, Finarfin's arm was numbed as he recognized that the picks were thrown at him not from Kirito, but the girl who had the ability to electrify the picks. Quickly locating his other opponent, Finarfin raised his other arm, barely managing to block the boy who was jumping at him with both blades.

"Ugh!" Finarfin's struggled as he struggled to fend off Kirito's attack with only one arm. Suddenly, instead of forcing the blade down at Finarfin, Kirito ceased his attempt to overpower Finarfin, instead landing in front of the Elf. Swinging his other arm around in a roundhouse movement, Kirito's [Horizontal] slashed a clean line across Finarfin's mid-section, as the Elf dashed backwards frantically.

"You can't run!" Fate's voice suddenly appeared behind Finarfin, as the Elf desperately turned around to his opponent who had suddenly gotten around him. Sparks flew as his dagger was disarmed, and the Elf flew sideways into a bench.

Breaking into a roll, Finarfin stumbled to his feet and held his remaining dagger, his grip still numb from the paralysis earlier. Holding his dagger in his right hand, he retreated behind yet another row of benches.

"I admit I have underestimated you, but still my victory is already assured." Finarfin grinned. Reaching into his robe, the Elf pulled out a tattered piece of parchment. "I have already created a copy of the resurrection procedure to my comrade Scrooge, and at this point it is too late for you to be able to track him. As long as you cannot stop him, there is no preventing the resurrection of the betrayer, and the end of your pitiful human habitat!"

Hearing the Elf explain his plans, Kirito grinned.

_As expected, halfway through the fight, the villain always gives the evil monologue. I suppose the next part of the quest is to defeat Finarfin and obtain whatever he's holding..._

Taking a quick glance at Kizmel and her men, it would seem that they have given up on removing the rubble, and were prepared to join the fight. Kirito finished drinking his potion and picked up his two swords stuck in the ground, getting ready to continue the fight.

"... and now, I shall kill you and eliminate the last hope of mankind!" Finarfin announced as he dropped the other dagger, instead drawing a katana which like his daggers was encased in a aura of darkness.

Kirito immediately recognized the blade to be similar to weapon wielded by the floor boss on the 10th floor, and he sheathed his darkblade. Now holding his knightsword with both hands, Kirito glared at the elf whilst preparing to attack.

"Kirito, his spellcasting..." Fate warned Kirito, as she stood diagonally behind the boy, ready to counterattack the moment Finarfin begins his assault.

"He probably won't... at this point this finally a contest of blades..." Kirito responded, as he examined Finarfin's form, which emitted a killer intent that was almost tangable. "Beware, his speed is likely to be completely different from before."

Not a moment too soon, Finarfin disappeared from the pair's view, and Kirito instinctively dodged to the left, whilst bringing his sword towards the right to defend. Sparks flew as Kirito's blade contacted with Finarfin's katana, as the Elf quickly spun the other way using the recoil and slashed diagonally at Fate.

Instantly after contacting Fate's block, Finarfin jumped backwards and started running between two of the rows of benches. Following his movement, Kirito ran down his own aisle before leaping into the air towards the Elf, his [Slant] clashing with the Elf's block.

Stepping backwards, Kirito dodged the Katana skill [Ukifune], which would have put him in a position for Finarfin to follow up with a combo. Taking advantage of Finarfin's defenseless gap after a skill, Kirito closed and sent Finarfin flying with his [Cannon Fist].

Before the elf hit the wall, however, Finarfin performed a half-flip in mid-air and landed feet-first on the wall, pushing off it like a spring board. Kirito was stunned at Finarfin's quick reaction, and barely blocked in time.

This time, it was Kirito that had trouble holding his defenses against Finarfin that had leapt at him after pushing off the wall. Dropping to his knee, Kirito attempted to drop into a roll, but was blocked by the benches that had mostly been destroyed in the fight.

"I have you now!" Finarfin declared as he raised his blade to stab it at Kirito, as the boy frantically raised his blade to block.

"No you don't!" Fate's voice grabbed Finarfin's attention, as he saw a greatsword flying towards his direction. Quickly lifting his katana to block, Finarfin deflected the sword, which went flying to the side. Recognizing the next attack, Finarfin held his katana sideways above his head, as the girl suddenly appeared in front of him with an overhead slash with her scythe.

While Finarfin was blocking, Kirito quickly got off the ground, and as Fate slashed down at Finarfin, Kirito swung his sword at the elf's legs. The elf quickly jumped backwards, collapsing his defense, and Fate did not miss the chance to take another slash at the Elf.

Landing several feet backwards, the elf grinned evilly as he stabbed his blade into the ground. His HP bar has finally dropped to the last bar, and as the elf lifted his hands, the red HP bar flashed rapidly.

"I'm impressed... to think that humans would corner me to desperation... While my honor will be tainted after this, I have no intention of losing." Finarfin sneered as a dark aura was emitted from the elf's body, forming a dark violet glowing circle with incantations.

Facing the elf, Kirito grinned back at the Elf and calmly recited his declaration.

"No, you have already lost! Kizmel!" Kirito commanded as he turned to the Dark Elf who had finally finished her preparation.

"Systemcall: Release Thermal Element - Discharge!" Kizmel shouted as a ball of fire appeared between her hands and flew towards Finarfin. As Kirito and Fate jumped back the fireball exploded where Finarfin was standing, and quickly lit all the surrounding benches on fire.

Inside the wall of fire created by Kizmel, Kirito was able to make out Finarfin's silhouette, and he quickly charged in through the flames. The elf did not move as it watched Kirito raise his blade and cut through his torso. As Finarfin burst in to a shower of polygons, his evil grin never disappeared.

"Let's get out of here!" Kirito turned around and shouted, not even confirming the items that he received. He had a pretty good idea about what he received, and at this time the first priority was to escape the church before it had collapsed

As the group left the church, the building collapsed in flames. Quickly gathering everybody, the group disappeared into the forest and headed back to the campsite.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Kirito-san, I thank you for your help in eliminating Finarfin. With one of the trinity now defeated, our chances of saving our lands have increased dramatically." Kizmel bowed in gratitude towards Kirito.

"We just did what we needed to do, so don't worry about it." Kirito replied as he materialized the reward he received from defeating Finarfin. "However, our task isn't completed yet."

"Indeed, we have yet to catch Finarfin's accomplice, Scrooge, and we also need to recover the goods that have been stolen." Kizmel responded. "That being said, it was a little odd that Finarfin was taken out that easily. The rumors must have been over exagerrated."

Kirito lowered his head in silence, as he pondered Kizmel's statement. It was true that the fight ended rather abruptly, and he also felt something was wrong during the moment he struck the elf down. It was almost as if Finarfin was baiting Kirito to defeat him, especially during the first half of the fight where he held off both himself and Fate with his combination of spells and melee strikes. Shaking his head to remove his doubts, Kirito responded to Kizmel, as if to convince himself as well as the Dark Elf.

"Is it possible that he was merely there to buy time for his comrades? He did respond in a vague way when I suspected him of being a fake. Either way, we'll find out if we follow this clue he has left us, if we're ambused at this location, then we can conclude that this was Finarfin's trap. Otherwise, all we have to do is follow through and complete the quest."

Kizmel looked at Kirito with a puzzled expression when he mentioned the word 'quest', but decided not to ask about it.

"Kirito, should you contact your allies and inform them of the location of the weapons? I recall you mentioned that there were people who were searching for the location as well." Fate asked Kirito, taking a seat beside Kizmel beside the bonfire that marked the center of their makeshift camp.

"It's probably safer for us to go alone at this point. If this was a trap, I want to minimize the risk for the other players. After all, the general population has less exposure to this quest, and they might be put in danger if they are caught off guard by the 'magic' that's in these areas." Kirito responded.

"Come to think of it, I'm surprised that you are able to adapt so quickly. I mean, even I had a hard time dealing with Finarfin's fighting style where he combined his spell casting and melee attacks, and I don't exactly consider myself an amateur. Did you happen to play magic-based MMO's before... oh, sorry, I forgot that you..." Kirito stopped his question mid-sentence, as he remembered that the girl's memories were confused.

"It's OK, I don't mind. But as you expected, I have no memories about whether I have played in such games. However, my body felt like it moved naturally during that fight, almost feeling as though my body reacted to the attack before I could put any thought into it." Fate's response caused Kirito to look at her with interest.

"Hmm... I guess you're slowly becoming one of the mysteries of SAO as well." Kirito paused as he looked at the girl. "You sure don't seem like the type to be playing games all day long, especially VR games which are hardly considered casual... yet your movements seem to suggest that you've spent your entire life refining your movements... so either you've been raised in a family of martial artists, or you're just natural at all this. Once we escape this death game, you should aspire to be a professional athlete or a martial artist, I'm sure you'll be famous in no time."

"Now you're just making fun of me..." Fate turned her head away as her voice trailed off. At the same time, Yeven walked quickly towards the campfire and whispered to Kizmel, who opened her eyes in shock.

"What? Impossible, how did that happen?" Kizmel exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Kirito directed his question to Yeven, who motioned Kirito to stand closer. Once Kirito and Fate approached whispering distance, Yeven relayed the news to the two.

"We have lost contact with the queen, the scouts and escorts that we sent out were wiped out by an unknown force. We believe it is the work of the [Underground], likely the men of Fingolfin."

Kirito brows twitched as he heard Fingolfin's name, as if that Elf was as strong as Finarfin, the quest could get difficult very quickly.

"Kizmel-san, do you think we may end up having to fight the remaining two of the Trinity?" Kirito asked.

"An eventual confrontation is inevitable, but right now you won't have to fight them. You've helped out enough already, so I can't ask you to go out of your way to help us. Unfortunately this sudden turn of events will also mean that we will be unable to help you with the recovery of the stolen weapons and blueprints. Please accept my apologies." Kizmel bowed at Kirito once again.

"No need to be so formal, you and your men also helped us greatly." Kirito replied awkwardly, slightly taken aback at the Kizmel's sudden formal attitude.

"Fortunately, we have procured entry passes to Decium Grande, which will allow you free access in and out of the city. However, please be careful within the city walls, as there is a chance that members of the [Underground] have already set their eyes on you." Kizmel continued, as she took out a bag and emptied out the contents.

"Please also take these items, and may they assist you on your journey. May you be bless with good fortune, and Godspeed to us all." Kizmel nodded to Yeven, who took out a crystal from his robe.

"Open corridor." The man announced quietly, as the corridor portal opened.

_Man... what a waste of a corridor portal... Decium Grande's only a few hours away... _Kirito thought as he accepted the items from Kizmel. Refocusing his thoughts, he and Fate began walking towards the portal.

"Good luck to you as well, thank you very much. Please take care." Kirito waved his hand as he bid Kizmel farewell for the time being.

"We will, until the day our paths cross again, brave hero." Kizmel smiled as she watched the two players walk into the portal.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx

**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [5:00]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Decium Grande]**

Kirito and Fate exited the portal, and walked up to the gates of the city. As expected, the guards did not question the two's reasons for returning at such a time, and it was as if everything had returned to normal.

"Well, I suppose everything turned out fine. Let's take a break for now so we don't get too tired, as long as we finish the next part by the end of the day we should still be ahead of schedule." Kirito spoke to Fate as the two walked down the streets.

"I can still continue onwards, there's no need to slow down your pace for me." Fate replied, noting that the boy was anything but tired.

"No, we'll take a rest for now... it's not just for you but it's for me as well. I'm too aware that I'm overly enthusiastic at this point, but that's when I'm most vulnerable and prone to mistakes." Kirito explained as the two arrived at the inn. "We'll rest until noon, then head out for the next part of the quest. If I'm not mistaken we'll be heading back to the first floor. Now let's get some rest, we might need it..."

As Fate nodded and entered the inn, Kirito opened his friends list and sent a message to Argo.

"Hopefully this will keep the other players off the right track... I feel guilty for doing so, but it's for their own safety." Kirito muttered as he sent the message to Argo, asking her to misguide the players. She would probably lash out at him for doing so, but he'd convince her to see his views even if it took until noon.

Upon closing his message, Kirito noticed something odd and began to look around.

_Huh? What was that sensation? It feels like something or someone was looking at me..._

Activating his [Searching] skill, Kirito looked around, but noticed nothing.

_Guess I really am tired... better get some rest before Argo sends her reply..._ Kirito thought to himself as he headed to the inn, unable to notice the translucent shadow that was standing on top of the roof of the inn.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [6:00]**

**Location: [10****th**** Floor – Abandoned Church]**

At the site of what used to be the abandoned church, a lone figure approached the pile of rubble.

"Finarfin-sama, I have returned." The shadowy figure announced.

All of a sudden, the pile of rubble began to split in two, as a figure engulfed in darkness walked out of the wreck.

"Have the humans separated from the Dark Elf and her men?" Finarfin questioned the Elven scout.

"Yes, the Dark Elves have begun their pursuit of the queen, while the humans have returned to the city." The scout replied.

"I understand. So everything is as planned, it was worth the effort after all..." Finarfin grinned as he picked up his daggers from the rubble.

"What I don't understand is..." Suddenly, a voice appeared from the forest near the entrance, and Finarfin turned to the owner of the voice, "why you didn't simply kill the group outright, instead of playing this elaborate game of deception?"

"Ah... Fingolfin, I thought you'd be the one to understand me, being one who also prefers to do things discreetly without drawing excessive attention..." Finarfin greeted his brother, who removed his cloak.

"Discreet tactics are for foes that are worth the effort, those were ants that would have died simply by stepping on them. Was it worth creating an elaborate spectral clone so that you could deliver the false slip to them?"

"I believe so, since with the help of our 'hero', I needn't even step outside the Elven lands to complete the task of reviving 'The Betrayer'." Finarfin replied.

"... and to go so far as to tell them the real location of the hidden weapons and blueprints? As well as the sacrifice of our men?"

"A blatant lie cannot defeat the skepticism of the humans, so a larger bait is necessary. Rest assured, the sacrifice of the men will not be in vain, as they will have their revenge when the humans revive the monstrosity."

"Very well, I look forward to seeing the hero drown in his despair, knowing that he was the one that led to the downfall of the human city." Fingolfin grinned evilly, as he turned around and put on his cloak.

Finarfin smiled as he watched his brother disappear into the darkness, and then he turned around and looked at the moon. Above his head, his HP bar returned to what it should have been, as well as the indicator "Lv. 75" beside his seven bars of HP.

"We will meet again human... if you survive the fate that awaits you..."

Author's Notes:

Sorry if this chapter feels severely disjointed... because it probably is. I've been writing this chapter for the last few weeks, often reaching the point of just a paragraph a day with several days inbetween... if I ever get to editing my story I suppose this chapter will be heavily modified.

Anyways... somehow I've finally gotten the story moving again... the fight scene wasn't exactly what I wanted it to be, but at least it came through without too much plothax... (guess I'll have to fix the mechanics in this fight as well during my 'eventual editing'... *sigh*)

Next chapter, I'll probably be shifting the focus back to the main group, with everyone preparing for the immenent assault on [Starting City]. Unfortunately I can't promise a release schedule, so I hope you've subscribed to email alerts.

Thanks for your patience.

Cheat Notes:

Current floor: 12 (Kirito currently on 10th)

Surviving Players: 94xx players.

NO CHANGES THIS CHAPTER:

Non-Canon Characters:

Aki 30

Mika 18

Cocoa 12

Fate 28

Eclair 26

Aixen 26

Vendette 26

Lancel 27

Zevela 28

Yunda 28

Characters: 

Kirito 33

L18 [Queen's Holy Knightsword 9S3D] 13/15 + Orb of Light

L20 [Darkblade Katana 7S3D] 11/15 + Orb of Darkness

[ Longsword 4S1D] 5/9

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

_L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword] 0/12_

Orb of Light & Darkness

[Coat of Midnight] – 1st boss LA drop

Leafa 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 5S3D] 12/12

_(Unused) [Bullish Shield+9]_

[Boots of the Woodelf]

Asuna 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 3A3Q2S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Rapier 9Q] 12/12

Silica 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 3Q4S2A] 12/12

Lisbeth 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H4D] 12/12

Argo 23

L25 [Alloy Steel Claws 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Klein 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 2Q3S3D] 12/12

Agil 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 5H4D] 12/12

Sachi 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 2S3Q3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler+8] 12/12

Aki 30

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 1S5D] 6/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +5] 6/12

Fate 28

BA Series – Scythe

BA Series – Zamber Greatsword

Bardiche Assault – Gauntlets + Orb of Lightning

_L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword] 0/12_

Eclair 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3Q3S2D] 12/12

Aixen 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q4S] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 6Q3S] 12/12

Vendette 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 5H2S3D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 2H2S5D] 12/12

Lancel 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7H1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Zevela 28

L25 [Alloy Steel Tanto Dagger 7Q1A] 12/12

Yunda 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 8Q] 12/12

Coper 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S5D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Diabel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +8] 12/12

Kibaou 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 7S1D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Grande Buckler +7] 12/12

Lynd 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 6S1A2D] 12/12

_L25 [Alloy Steel Scimitar 9Q1D] 12/12_

Heathcliff 29

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S6D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Godfree 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Battleaxe 8H] 12/12

Kuradeel 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 7S] 12/12

Keita 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Staff 3H4D] 12/12

Tetsuo 24

L25 [Alloy Steel Hammer 5H2D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Beowulf 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 3S4H] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Orlando 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S3A] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +7] 12/12

Issin 26

L25 [Alloy Steel Bident Spear 5Q2A] 12/12

Dale 27

L25 [Alloy Steel Greatsword 6H] 12/12

ToCuFrU 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Axe 8H] 12/12

Trojan 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Haxor 25

L25 [Alloy Steel Shortsword 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

DBoss

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Kiteshield +9] 12/12

Mika 18

L25 [Alloy Steel Longsword 4S4D] 12/12

L25 [Alloy Steel Buckler +8] 12/12

Cocoa 12

L25 [Alloy Steel Dagger 8Q] 12/12

Ducker (BCoFM) - 24

Sasamaru (BCoFM) - 24

Nezha - 25

Other 'Legend Brave' 22-27

Other Fuurinkazan 25-27

Other DDA 22-27

/Thinker (ALF) - 25

Other ALF 21-28

Daizan (KoB) (non-combat) - 18

Other KoB

Floor Opening History:

1 2022, Nov 6

2 2022, Nov 21

3 2022, Nov 23

*7 2022, Dec 17 (Teleport not activated, floor boss not defeated)

*8 2022, Dec 15 (Teleport not activated)

*9 2022, Dec 14 (Teleport not activated)

10 2022, Dec 2

11 2022, Dec 12

12 2022, Dec 17

Groupings: (Only listing significant characters)

A: Asuna, Kibaou

B: Aki

C: Lancel, Sachi

D: Dale, Lynd

E: Issin, Zevela

F: Agil, DBoss

G: Godfree, Keita, Yunda,

H: Diabel, Heathcliff

I: Beowulf, ToCuFrU

J: Éclair, Silica

K: Tetsuo, Trojan

L: Leafa, Kuradeel

M: Klein, Vendette

N: Aixen, Orlando

O: Haxor,

P: Coper, Fate, Kirito


	75. The Deception - 2

**The Deception 2**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

**Notes:**

As per popular request, I'll be changing to Notes (that were only supposed for MY viewing only) so that they'll appear every 5 chapters. Changes will still be noted.

(See how nice I am? LOL)

I'm hoping to end the current arc within 15 chapters, and the next one will focus mainly on the players of the game. Expect a small time skip, a slightly darker tone and potential character deaths.

**Q&A:**

tennisdesi91, Avoide: I agree about the last 20 chapters seeming a little slower, since I decided to slow down the time flow and try to put a little more detail in the plot. Unfortunately, I think I ended up putting too much in too little a time span, and the end result became a overly saturated event.

(In retrospect, maybe the pacing would feel better if the clearing group continued to clear while the other players planned the events... but then Kirito would need to learn split-body techniques to be everywhere at all times.)

Tama Saga: Sorry about the cliché, but NPC characters (and boring villains) are NOT allowed to read the evil overlord list... I'm thinking of starting some real despair next arc, but not sure if I'm up to the challenge... lol

FrostyMouse: I'm going to re-read that chapter to see if I made any continuity faults there... as for Kirito checking the rewards, he'll do it this chapter... but whether he can find any clues is up to him.

obsidian-fox: Technically it's an NPC-skill (similar to a 'clone' spell) that Finarfin uses. Also, he only uses it during the period of time he was standing still after Kizmel's attack. What he uses to mask his HP, on the other hand, is a mystery. I've already drafted a rough outline of several idea that I want to use as my next arc. That being said, I'm still struggling on deciding what I direction I want to take after this arc.

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

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**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [9:00]**

**Location: [1st Floor - Starting City]**

Asuna walked out of the teleport portal, welcoming the familiar sight of the medieval arena of [Starting City]. As her eyes adjusted to the scenery, she quickly noticed her 'welcoming party' - a dozen players donning the logo of the ALF.

Standing at the front of the group was Lancel, and the player beside him had short brown hair and was wearing a light armor. Although he did not wear significantly upgraded armor, Asuna did not miss the aura of confidence that radiated from the boy.

_I wonder why I've never seen him in the tournament, he seems to be very strong. For some odd reason he seems familiar though... _Asuna thought as she approached the group.

"Welcome back to [Starting City] Asuna-san, we are honored to receive your assistance." Lancel greeted. "I don't know if you've met Coper, but he is in charge of training our guild members, and will be assisting in the coordination of our defenses."

As the player named Coper bowed towards Asuna, Asuna remembered why the boy seemed familiar.

_So he was one of the 'elites' from the beta test, no wonder he seems to give off that confident aura._

Walking to Coper, Asuna shook his hand and then turned to Lancel.

"I have a few others in our group that will be showing up to help later on, but for now is there anything that I can help you with?"

"To be honest, we originally thought of having you give a speech or a meeting with all the players to boost their morale." Lancel paused as he noticed Asuna's frown. "However, we decided it was not the best idea, as we did not want to portray you as merely a mascot to rally the troops. Instead, we will be assigning you and your group one of our advanced defense parties. Before we continue, let's head to our headquarters where we can discuss our defense plans."

Lancel motioned Asuna down the streets, and the three walked down towards the Black Iron Palace.

Taking a seat inside the meeting room of ALF headquarters, Lancel materialized a map of the outskirts of [Starting City]

"From the information that we have been able to gather, we expect the enemy's main offensive to occur at the northern fields outside of [Starting City]. Our members have confirmed that the gates protecting the city can all be closed, apart from the Northern gate which so happens to be 'undergoing maintenance'..." Lancel pointed at the four walls surrounding [Starting City], and pointed to the Northern gate.

"According to Thinker's predictions, if there was to be an NPC spawn to begin the raid, it would likely be from the forest area to the Northwest of the gate. Our scouts have thoroughly mapped the region, and with their information we have the following."

At this time, Coper materialized a map of the surrounding areas, and put it on top of the area map.

"At this time, the players that we have trained will likely be unable to defend against a full-scale assault by NPC mobs. That is why we have decided to locate our players at certain choke points to engage the enemy. By doing so we should be able to minimize our losses, as well as provide constant updates to the main defense force as to what mobs are approaching the city walls." Coper said as he circled several areas where the path is narrowed due to surrounding cliffs and ridges.

"We plan to have our forces perform guerrilla strikes at the mobs as well as having a stationary force engage stronger opponents. At this point, none of our players should have any difficulties with the normal mobs on the field, so as long as we concentrate on the invading forces we should suffer no casualties. However, in the case of unexpected changes, we have also stationed several 'rescue groups' to deal with sudden changes."

Coper took out another sheet and laid it on the table, and Asuna's eyes widened as she noticed it was a list showing the expected number and type of mobs that would be spawned.

"According to the information brokers, the amount of invading mobs is far greater than the initial assumption. Our warning from Kirito-san suggested that there would be several dozen mobs involved in the event, mainly being mid-level mobs. Unfortunately he was mistaken, and the assault is on a much larger scale. We have changed our initial plans, and added additional stages to our defense formation."

"Close to a thousand invading mobs? Isn't the scale a little too big, even for a game like this?" Asuna asked in shock.

Lancel nodded his head in a solemn tone. "Yes.. it would seem that this event is turning out to be one that will force almost everybody into the fight. Thanks to Kirito-san's early warning, the information brokers were able to find the hidden quests that led to the revelation. I believe you're familiar with the guilds Fuurinkazan and Black Cats of the Moon, they were the main contributors to the discovery."

_So that's what they've been up to lately, no wonder I haven't seen them recently._ Asuna thought as she turned her attention back to the table.

"Fortunately, thanks to the early warnings, we were able to get most of the remaining players in [Starting City] to start leveling outside the city. Most of the players at this point should be able to at least defend themselves if the invasion was to reach inside the city, however, the majority of players will still be incapable of becoming a fighting force. This leads us to our mission."

Lancel took out another map, this time of an area right outside the city walls.

"The ALF will be stationing our main defense forces right outside the city gates, and we will be engaging the majority of high-level mobs at this location. We are uncertain about whether there will be an event boss at this time, but if the invasion follows typical MMORPG rules then we should be prepared." Lancel spoke as he drew Asuna's attention to the map.

"Currently, we have split the ALF's forces into seven groups. Three groups are focused on defense, three on offense, and one group for support and healing. Currently Diabel's and Kibaou's groups are searching for the whereabouts of the rumored event boss, which leaves one attack group remaining in [Starting City]. I'd like you to lead that group for the time being, since we have yet to find an appropriate leader."

"Are you sure about that? I thought you didn't want me to interfere with the ALF's internal affairs..." Asuna was slightly surprised at the invitation.

"Actually, the opposite is true. Thinker-san has always considered you to be a valuable ally, and if the situation allowed we would have liked to have you join our guild. Obviously we are aware of the slight tension between you and Kibaou, but rest assured that you have the trust of everybody else in the guild." Lancel reassured Asuna.

"In that case, I'll accept your offer, but it doesn't mean that I've agreed to ally with the ALF."

"Of course. At this point we don't want to disturb the delicate balance of power between us and the DDA either. If you change your mind later on, I'll inform Thinker-san and we'll get things worked out immediately." Lancel bowed his head, and turned his attention back to the map.

"Now that you've accepted to lead the third attack group, our three attack groups have been filled. Coper and I will tend to the training and organization of the defending groups, ensuring that we have a solid defense by the time of the invasion. As for our support group, Thinker-san will personally tend to the arrangements and training."

Asuna looked at the maps laid out on the table, and noticed that a great deal of effort was put into the formulation of the plans. Each of ALF's groups were separated into different units, which consisted of several parties. The organization was such that a primitive hierarchy was being to become apparent.

_It almost seems like they're developing a military... and most of the players are still in their lower levels..._ Asuna thought as she examined the members.

"Now that we've completed our quick briefing, we'll move onto the next part. Your group is prepared to head out to conduct a review of the area. We will head out at 11:00, and hopefully return for you to hold the afternoon meeting at 13:00" Coper said as he got up from his seat. "In the meantime, I'll be attending morning training with my group."

"What meeting?" Asuna asked.

"Your meeting with your subordinates for the event. We're giving you complete control over what you want to do with them in order to prepare them for the event. We're counting on you." Coper grinned to the chestnut-haired rapier, as he walked out of the meeting room.

"My apologies Asuna-san, but we were told not to interfere with your planning upon your acceptance of the task. If you need anything do not hesitate to contact Coper or myself, we will do our best to assist your efforts. I'll leave you to your planning for the time being, please excuse me." Lancel added, handing her a stack of papers. Bowing to her, Lancel excused himself from the room, leaving a stunned Asuna inside the conference room.

"At least tell me what I'm supposed to do first." Asuna exclaimed in frustration, as she dropped the papers on the table. Turning around to face the shelves of books lining the walls, Asuna grabbed the first book that caught her eye.

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**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [09:00]**

**Location: [10th Floor - Kirito's Room]**

Despite wanting to get some rest, Kirito found himself unable to sleep. Barely managing a few hours of rest, Kirito woke up to the sunlight that permeated through the gaps of the blinds of his rented room. Giving up on the idea of trying to get more rest, Kirito sat up on his bed.

Knowing exactly what was causing his unrest, Kirito opened his menu and navigated to his new items tab. Materializing the items in his menu, Kirito inspected the items.

The first few items were nothing out of the ordinary, col, recovery potions, minerals and materials. Next was what Kirito suspected was the LA bonus, a curved dagger by the name [月牙]. Opening the item properties, Kirito was surprised at the stats of the weapon.

The first thing that caught Kirito's attention was the abnormally high AGI requirement to wield the weapon. Even at his level, only pure AGI builds were going to be able to wield the weapon. Furthermore the dagger also had a notable DEX requirement that was only slightly lower than the AGI requirement. In short, the weapon was not something that a player would be able to use anytime soon.

Taking another careful glance at the weapon, Kirito noted that the dagger remarkably looked similar to the one that Finarfin wielded. Normally the LA drop would be a weapon similar to the boss' weapon, but lower in power and definitely not the same item. This dagger on the other hand looked too similar to be a random occurrence.

_It's almost as if Finarfin dropped this dagger for me on purpose, but that would mean he staged his demise..._

Picking up the last item, Kirito examined the few torn pieces of parchment carefully. The plans of Finarfin and Scrooge were written down in detail, including the method of tricking Nicholas, the group of Elves and Gnomes involved in the operation, as well as the location that the weapons and blueprints were being kept. The second torn piece of parchment described the location of the Betrayer's resurrection, the method of resurrection, and even a method to put the Betrayer to sleep permanently.

_Why would everything be so detailed? There's really was no need to put down the method to permanently seal the Betrayer. Was it a pure oversight? Or is there a trap hidden somewhere._

Running through the possible scenarios, Kirito still could not determine whether the information was true or not. On one side, if the information was false, he'd be walking straight into Finarfin's trap. However, at this point there was no other alternative, as he had no other leads to go by.

_Oh well... I guess I'll cross the bridge when I get there... _Kirito thought optimistically as he let his thoughts wander, as he once again drifted into unconsciousness.

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**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [13:00]**

**Location: [1st Floor – Black Iron Palace]**

"So, Asuna-san, what did you think?" Coper smiled as he looked at the chestnut-haired girl, who had her hands on her waist?

"Apart from being annoyed that you left me in the dark, I must admit the players were impressive. Most of them had gotten over their fear of leaving [Starting City], and they remained organized while we fought through the beginning mob groups." Asuna sighed. "If you had told me about them earlier, then we wouldn't have been wasting time on [Frenzy Boars]… we've wasted an entire morning because of that."

"I wouldn't call it waste if the group was able to receive your acknowledgement." Coper countered. "The fact that a top-tier player has given her acknowledgement is something the group should be proud of. Add that to the fact that you'll be comfortable leading them from now on, and I'd say we're ahead of schedule."

"I wouldn't be too optimistic, the group might be able to perform well on the field, but they're still a group of greenhorns that don't even know what fear is. Considering the fact that nobody know what the invasion will be like, we need to at least give these players the ability to survive if everything goes wrong. We don't have too much time left, so the first thing we need to do is to get the group's organization perfected by sunset tonight." Asuna announced as she put her hands on the table.

"Very well, I will gather my group and assist with your training. Our group will eliminate the surrounding mobs and prevent other mobs from entering your training, while your group can focus on training on the group attack formations." Lancel said, as he opened his message system to relay the decision to his group.

Before Lancel could start typing, the door to the conference room was pushed open, and the aspiring knight with blue hair walked toward into the room.

"Sorry, Lancel-kun, but I'm going to cancel your date." Diabel joked. "We've found the location of the weapons, and we're going to mount a full-assault. Hopefully if this works out then the entire invasion might be averted, and even if the invasion still occurs at least our players will have upgraded weapons at their disposal."

"In that case, I'll help out as well." Asuna suggested, standing to greet Diabel. The 'knight' paused a moment in thought, then shook his head.

"I thank you for your offer, but at this point it would be best to have you assist in the training of our newer player group. From what I've heard, most are delighted that you're leading them for the invasion, so I'd like to keep their morale high. Sorry for disappointing you." Diabel replied, looking away from Asuna's slightly disappointed expression.

"There's something else you're not telling me is there?" Asuna accused, noticing Diabel's attitude to be more reserved than his usual open, friendly demeanor.

"Well… originally our plan was to return here then to plan our assault. However, at this point one of our attacking groups rushed ahead to the location, that is why we need to gather the remaining experience groups to join up with him." Diabel replied with embarrassment.

"So Spikey's the reason… don't worry, I can handle myself if he decided to seek revenge." Asuna replied confidently.

"Well, it would be OK if that was the only issue." Diabel replied. "But ever since his loss, he's been acting rather erratically, I'm afraid he'll do something stupid."

"Yet he's too valuable to simply let go." Coper added. "Though I personally think the ALF would be better off without him."

"Must be difficult, being in a leadership position and all." Asuna sighed. "Very well, I'll make sure your new players are ready for the invasion if it occurs. Best of luck recovering the weapons stash."

"Thank you. I'll have Coper assist with your training regime, while Lancel and I rush to bring reinforcements to Medai." Diabel bowed.

"Medai? Last I heard Kirito-kun was also heading there…" Asuna pointed out.

Coper, Diabel, and Lancel looked at each other in silence, as they realized that things were going to spiral out of hand.

"Change of plans Diabel, I'm going with you. Congrats Lancel, guess you can go on your date after all." Coper turned to the British teenager, who bowed in reply.

"Asuna-san, don't mind Lancel-kun, he's a bit old fashioned but he's a great guy. Have fun, and remember not to overexert the new recruits." Diabel smiled as he turned around, waving his hand as he and Coper walked out of the conference room.

"Asuna-san, just a quick question that I would like to seek your opinion." Lancel faced Asuna and asked with a serious expression.

"Uh... what is it... Lancel-san?" Asuna was slightly surprised at Lancel's expression, and turned to give the man her full attention.

"Do you feel that I have been disliked by Diabel-san and Coper-san? Somehow I get the feeling that he does not favor my presence." Lancel's question caught Asuna completely off guard.

"Really? I thought it was the opposite…" Asuna responded with a puzzled expression, and Lancel lowered his head in deep thought.

_Guess his personality is more serious than I originally thought. At least I'm not the only one who's overly serious. _Asuna smiled as she took the meeting papers and put them in her inventory. The training in the afternoon would be intense, so she needed to make sure nothing would go wrong.

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**Date: [December 22, 2022]  
**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [15:00]**

**Location: [1st Floor – Outskirts of Medai]**

Kirito and Fate stood in the shadows, hidden in the forest overseeing a small camp hidden in the outskirts of Medai.

"To think that I'd bump into him of all people..." Kirito complained quietly, as Fate looked at the boy with curiosity.

"Isn't it a good thing that we bumped into other players? They look prepared to attack the camp, it should improve our chances of success." Fate asked Kirito, who shook his head.

"Unfortunately, the leader of that group seems to have something against me, so it's unlikely that we'll be able to cooperate. It looks like he's amassed quite a group of players as well, most of them almost look like they're ready for frontline battles." Kirito responded. "Which means it won't be easy for us to convince them to back down."

"In that case, we should do our best not to let them notice us right?" Fate motioned towards the back of the encampment, but Kirito raised his finger to signal Fate to wait a moment.

Not a moment too soon, Kibaou's group started advancing on the camp, triggering an alarm bell to echo throughout the camp. The two watched as several dozen gnomes and elves materialize in the campgrounds, blocking the path reaching the main building inside the grounds.

"Just as I thought, there was a trigger..." Kirito said as he pointed towards the back of the camp. Fate nodded in return, and the two began making their way towards the back of the camp.

Reaching behind the camp, Kirito began to climb the tree that he discovered during the initial scouting of the campgrounds. Slowly ascending the canopy, Kirito was able to observe the entire campground as he reached a height exceeding that of the wall.

_The ALF is doing surprisingly well. _Kirito thought to himself, noting that the ALF has already penetrated the outer defense and were fighting their way towards the main entrance of the building.

Recalling the details that were left behind by Finarfin, Kirito observed the building and located the [Secret Entrance] that was blocked by two crates stacked on top of each other. Glancing at the two [Elven Guards] that patrolled the back entrance, Kirito his to Fate and motioned to the girl.

Acknowledging his partner nod in confirmation, Kirito drew his blade and signaled Fate with his other hand.

"3... 2... 1... JUMP!" Kirito's whispered as he jumped towards over the wall towards one of the guards, activating [Sonic Leap] mid-air, his blade soared into the air and cleanly slashed one of the guards in the back. Without letting the guard recover from the attack, Kirito spun around and activated [Horizontal], leaving another clean mark on the guard's torso.

Jumping backwards and expecting a counter-attack, Kirito was surprised when he noticed the guard's HP being deep in the red zone. Quickly drawing his throwing picks, Kirito launched a set of five picks, which impaled the guard before it had a chance to close in. As the guard now exploded into fragments, Kirito turned around.

"The guards seemed pretty weak." Fate commented as soon as Kirito turned around, and Kirito nodded in acknowledgement.

Pushing aside the crates, Kirito was once again surprised that the door behind the crates was unlocked. Everything seemed to suggest that it was a trap, but at this point Kirito wasn't about to turn around.

"It might be a trap, so we should be careful as we enter the building. We should keep [Stealth] as an active skill this time." Kirito said as he opened his skill menu and activated his [Stealth] skill. Normally the passive [Stealth] ability was more than sufficient for avoiding random mobs, and wasn't worth the speed penalty. However, this time gut instincts told Kirito that it was important not to get detected.

Slowly pushing the door open, a set of stairs leading to the basement was revealed, slowly walking down the stairs, Kirito noted that the stairs were far too long to be only for a single floor, coming to the conclusion that the stairs were probably an emergency exit. By the time Kirito was able to see the bottom, the two had already gone down a good several floors. Reaching the last few steps, Kirito got on his knees and peeked into the room.

Surprisingly, nothing was in the room at the bottom of the stairs, and Kirito breathed a sigh of relief. Motioning to the girl, Kirito walked down the final few steps and looked around. Beyond the small landing area, a long corridor led to a bend in the passageway, and there were no opening or oddities on the wall that suggested a trap or anything of the sort.

"It almost seems too easy..." Kirito said to himself, as he sheathed his blade. Opening his menus, he materialized two [Steel Roundshields], and tossed one to Fate. "Just in case there are traps in the hallway."

The two walked slowly down the pathway, weary of the possibility of traps, but reality betrayed their expectations and soon they reached the end of the hallway. After turning the corner, the two soon reached what would be the largest room of the building.

Inside the room stood an oversized gnome, which wielded a large war-hammer. Its eyes were glowing red, and steam vented from its nostrils regularly. The boss monster, [The Raging Gnome], wore armor that was colored in red and green, and the color scheme was also followed by its weapon of choice.

_Well... that explains it was a simple walk to reach this place. Guess we'll just have to defeat the boss to retrieve the blueprints? _Kirito thought as he brought his sword back out and was about to begin the attack, but a tug at the back of his shirt stopped Kirito.

"Wait..." Fate whispered as she pulled Kirito back into the passageway. "Someone's coming..."

Kirito looked at the direction that Fate pointed at, and sure enough members of the ALF soon entered the room from another passageway and were charging at the boss. Apart from Kibaou, who seemed to be leading the assault, Kirito also recognized several members from ALF's clearing group, and they seemed to be doing well against the boss monster.

"Should we help them?" Fate asked, and Kirito lowered his head in thought.

_If we join the attack now, there's no telling what conflict will ensue afterwards. On the other hand, it doesn't make sense to back out now, especially after all we've gone through. If only there was a way to get past the boss..._

Looking at the boss room, Kirito noticed that the third path leading to the boss room was completely unguarded, and it was possible that if the group was distracted then he might be able to sneak in.

Turning his attention back to the boss right, Kirito realized that he was overly optimistic about the scenario. While it was true that the ALF was in no danger from fighting the boss monster, it was actually doing too well and its members were not paying full attention to the boss.

_At this rate, they'll probably notice me even if I move as fast as I can. _Kirito thought.

_If the boss was stronger, then the ALF would have to commit all its attention to fighting it, but at this rate it would be unlikely that their formation would be broken. We could wait until the boss fight is done, but there's also a possibility that the ALF would continue and head down the passageway without splitting the loot._

_The other possibility is to wait until the boss enters rage mode, but if possible I would prefer to be here in case any of the players get in danger. In either case, there's not much I can at this point apart from wait..._

"Kirito, I'll go." Fate suddenly suggested, bringing Kirito's thoughts back to the current situation. Kirito looked at the girl in surprise as she returned her weapon to her inventory, as well as her cape and plate armor.

_Removing all her extraneous armor does give her a increase in speed and agility, but even with that, will it be enough? _Kirito thought as he watched Fate retreat down the pathway to prepare a sprint.

_Well, guess there's one way to find out... _Kirito thought as he nodded to the girl, who began to sprint forwards at full speed. As Kirito watched the girl dash past him, and watched her vanish as she activated her skill. Looking into the room, he barely caught Fate's silhouette appear briefly in the room before she disappeared again, this time appearing in midair before disappearing one last time and appearing in the third hallway.

_So... three times... was she holding back on me during that fight? _Kirito thought opened his message box and typed a message to Fate.

_Kirito: Walk down the pathway to the end, you should find the blueprints there. We'll leave the treasure chests for the ALF to loot. I'll keep an eye on the ALF, in case they get into trouble._

_Fate: Understood._

Closing his open windows, Kirito turned his focus back to the boss fight. The ALF had successfully taken out the first bar of the boss' HP, was continuing to hold the boss back without any difficulty.

_Let's hope that there aren't any surprises..._ Kirito thought, as he gripped the hilt of his blades.

His expectations were once again betrayed, however, when one of the ALF's members lost their shield defending against the boss' attack. Taking the blunt of the boss' attack having lost his shield, the ALF defender was sent flying back, knocking over several of his party-mates.

_That was a beginner's mistake, how could they forget to repair their equipment prior to a raid? _Kirito cursed under his breath, as he nervously watched the boss' next move. While he didn't want to expose himself, he definitely did not want any players to lose their lives because of him.

Kibaou frantically arranged his rotation cycle to cover for the group that had been struck into disarray. His other tanking group moved to the front and were struggling to defend, having been moved to the front despite still healing. Kirito watched as the player's bars hovered in the yellow zone, slowly replenishing to be dropped down once again due to the boss' attack.

Despite the unexpected situation, Kibaou's group managed to hold on, though at this point Kirito could tell that the boss' HP was dropped at a significantly slower pace. The group's average HP was also now in the yellow range, and it was evident that they had not recovered from the earlier shock.

_Now would be the time to rally the group Kibaou... _Kirito bit his lips in frustration, as he waited for Kibaou to regroup his troops.

"Damn! Group D, keep holding the boss down, Group E and F attack together!" Kibaou shouted, as his group A attempted to get around the boss.

_NO! Don't do that, you'll trigger his 'Whirlwind'... it's common-sense not to surround bosses wielding 2H weapons... _Kirito fumed as he manipulated his menus, putting several additional healing potions in his belt. At this rate, he might be forced to participate in the fight.

"We've got him now... FULL ATTACK!" Kibaou sneered, as all the members of the ALF charged at the boss.

Kirito cursed as he ran out of his hiding spot, as [The Raging Gnome] drew its war-hammer backwards. A burst of steam erupted from its mouth as it swung the hammer around, sending a omni-directional shockwave towards the ALF players about to attack it.

As Kirito ran across the room, he quickly assessed the situation. Most of the ALF players were knocked back and were currently suffering the stun ailment; it would be dangerous for the one who the boss decided to attack next.

Unfortunately, the boss monster had no intention on waiting for the players to recover, as it approached the nearest ALF player, a middle-aged man with a shield and sword. The man looked at the boss in horror, as he struggled to scream, unfortunately the stun status had not worn off, and the man was sent flying into the air as the boss monster picked his next victim - a young staff-wielding boy who was deep in the red range.

Kirito tossed a set of picks towards the boss, as he drew his sword from his hilt. Watching the boss monster lift its hammer, Kirito leapt into the air.

_Please let me make it in time! _Kirito thought as his blade glowed blue, sending his body through the air with [Sonic Leap].

Two strokes of light clashed with the boss' hammer, and Kirito was shocked at the view of the person who blocked the boss' attack alongside with him.

"Long time no see. Nice-timing as usual, Kirito."

**Author's Notes:**

As mentioned, chapter notes will only reflect changes or related characters. The next full notes will be on Ch.80


	76. The Deception - 3

**The Deception 3**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Notes:

Just when I thought RL would finally give me some time to relax... I was definitely mistaken... (Though I suppose that just means that I'm not prioritizing properly.) I guess this fic's turning out to become bi-weekly... I'll see if I can get some time to grind out those creative juices...

Anyways... another 'slow' chapter... sorry, but that's the pacing for now... I'll probably speed up the time gauge later on...

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [15:00]**

**Location: [1st Floor - Medai – Elven Underground Hideout]**

"Long time no see. Nice-timing as usual, Kirito." The brown-haired boy grins at Kirito, as the two parry [The Raging Gnome]'s war-hammer.

"Huh?! I thought you stayed away from boss fights…" Kirito asked as the two pushed the boss monster backwards.

Taking a quick dash forwards, the brown-haired boy closed in towards [The Raging Gnome], unleashing a skill that was all too familiar – [Cannon Fist]. As the boss flew backwards from the strike, the boy turned around and faced Kirito.

"I said I prefer to stay in low-risk scenarios, I'd say this fight is pretty low-risk at this point." Coper said. "Now, help me get my boys back in fighting shape."

Without wasting a moment, Coper ran towards the group of defenders, and tossed the players healing crystals. In several flashes of pink light, Alf's defensive line had returned to full HP.

"Coper! What are you doing? I'm in charge of this fight!" Kibaou complained loudly, but was silenced by Coper's glare.

"We'll argue later." Coper said as he turned his attention back to the group. "Group C and D, reform your defensive line, group A and E head to the left; B and F to the right. Make sure you don't surround the boss like last time! Let's take down this sucker!"

As if something had magically enchanted the group, the players in the ALF raid started moving in perfect unison, as the six groups of players assembled in their positions. Holding his sword up, Coper watched as the boss monster recovered from his strike and get up.

"Group C, ready… GO!" Coper shouted as the group of defenders rushed up and put up their shields. Shortly after, the Gnome came charging towards the group swinging its war-hammer sideways. The impact his the wall of defenders, causing a gush of wind to blow across the field.

"Group A, quick strike!" As if expecting Coper's command, the group of players armed with long weapons charged at the Gnome, landing quick blows on the side of its torso. Letting out a roar, the Gnome swung its hammer to the right, too late to hit its attackers who had already retreated.

"Group B!" Coper's successive command had the group of axe and hammer wielders charge at the Gnome, who was now facing group A and exposing its back. In a shower of glowing attacks, Kirito watched as the second HP bar of the boss disappear quickly.

_Amazing… the boss' HP just disappeared so simply. _Kirito was surprised at the effectiveness of the ALF's forces, the same group that was almost decimated just a short while ago.

"Pincer!" Coper yelled, as he turned to Kirito. "Let's charge!"

Caught off guard, Kirito was a step late as he watched Coper charge forwards with his sword. Following behind, he noticed that groups E & F were also charging towards the boss monster. At this rate, the boss monster will get surrounded and activate its AOE.

"You'll trigger the AOE!" Kirito warned as he dashed after Coper.

"That's why we're here!" Coper replied confidently, as the two watched the boss withdraw its war-hammer backwards, preparing for the AOE [Whirlwind].

"[Sonic Leap] now! Aim for the nose!" Coper shouted, and Kirito immediately realized – Coper had somehow found the method to cancel the boss' attack. Lighting his sword in a blue light, Kirito jumped into the air following Coper, as the two became comets that assaulted the Gnome's face.

Both swords slashed the Gnome's nose simultaneously, as red steam erupted from the Gnome's nostrils. Dropping to the ground from the attack, the boss monster was defenseless as group E and F showered their swords on the boss' torso. Within 10 seconds, the boss' third HP bar had disappeared, and the yellow HP became red.

"Fall back! Here comes the rage!" Coper yelled, as all the players moved a safe distance away.

Getting up from the ground, [the Raging Gnome] threw its war-hammer into the air, replacing his weapon with a pair of short hammers. Kirito looked at Coper, whose expression did not change in the slightest.

"Everything as planned?" Kirito asked, which was replied with a nod from Coper. "So what do I do?"

"I'd tell you to sit back and relax, but I doubt you'd have it though." Coper laughed. "Just cover our backs in case things don't go as expected."

Kirito let out a small laugh in return, as he sheathed his blade and jumped backwards. It had been a while since he had seen Coper, and he was interested to see how the ALF under his lead.

Coper walked calmly to the front of his group, where the boss was completing the rage initiation sequence.

"C, D. Assume V formation. A, B, prepare to charge. E, F, on my mark." Coper quietly ordered, as the ALF members marched to their positions.

As soon as the ALF members got into position, the Gnome swung its twin hammers through the air, creating two shockwaves that were blocked by the two defending groups. Following the shockwave, the Gnome charged towards the ALF at a surprisingly rapid pace as it lifted its hammers over its head.

Slashing downwards with both hammers, the Gnome's attack made contact with the two groups of defenders. Without giving the group time to react, the Gnome drew a V-shaped patter with its two hammers, sending another shockwave that blew away the two defending groups.

"Charge!" Coper shouted as the Gnome was caught in the cooldown after its attack. A dozen ALF members charged forwards with their spears and staffs, pummeling the Gnome in a storm of attacks.

Kirito watched as the ALF under Coper's command performed flawlessly, as if they had fought this fight countless times. Every move was performed in clockwork fashion, and no stutters in execution were apparent. It was only a matter of time until the boss monster would be defeated.

_Now... time to figure out what I should do after this... explaining my presence is going to be awkward at best... _Kirito gulped as he thought about how he would have to deal with the ALF grilling him for information.

As the boss' HP dwindled to the last several pixels, Kirito suddenly felt a sense of tension that drew his attention towards the Raging Gnome. Instead of continuing its attack in a frenzied state, the Gnome had drawn its hammers close to its body, as if it was about to perform some form of special attack.

"EVERYBODY FALL BACK!" Realizing his fears, Kirito shouted out to the ALF, just as the boss threw its hammers out towards Coper's group.

Witnessing the first time panic struck Coper's formation, Kirito darted forwards towards Coper's group, as the Gnome started to glow with a dark aura.

"He's unarmed! Finish him!" Kibaou's voice was hear over the voices of the ALF members, and several players started closing in towards the Gnome.

"Coper, stop them before it's too late." Kirito beckoned to Coper, as the brown-haired boy got off the floor, recovering from the attack.

"STOP! SHIELDS UP!" Coper roared, as he drew his [Alloy Steel Buckler] and shielded his group.

Not a moment too soon, the Gnome's attack commenced. Kirito was able to make out the words of the Gnome, as it talked for the first time.

"Systemcall: Shockwave" The gnome's chant coincided with a omni-directional shockwave. Fortunately, most of the ALF's members were prepared due to Coper's command, but the ones close to the gnome were still sent flying backwards due to the sheer force that was emitted.

"Get ready…" Kirito uttered as he planted his feet, ready to dart forwards once the shockwave faded. Bolting forwards, Kirito drew both blades and rushed towards the boss in order to finish it off. His attack was put to a stop when he noticed the boss' eyes, which were still glowing despite finishing the attack.

_Don't tell me… _Kirito realized as the second shockwave hit him. Quickly stabbing both blades into the ground, Kirito was able to prevent himself from being sent flying from the attack. However, the attack did not spare him of the HP damage, as the boy realized that the attack would cost him 10% of his HP.

Jumping backwards, Kirito held out his right blade sideways in anticipation, and as he predicted a third shockwave clashed with his blade. Noticing his HP damage was significantly lower due to the block, Kirito took the opportunity to consume a potion from his belt.

"What is this?! I thought Sword Art Online has no magic in it…" Coper's asked as he slowly advanced forwards, holding position beside Kirito.

"I have no idea why, but it would seem that something caused 'magic' to be available in this event quest." Kirito answered.

"That's ridiculous!" Coper exclaimed. "Hard to believe that Kayaba would permit this…"

"True… but those issues aside, we need to finish the boss before he wipes us out." Kirito replied, noting that the HP gauge of the ALF members was slowly decreasing despite the continuous effects of the healing potions.

"I doubt that we'll be able to advance further without sustaining more damage, the boss' attack resembles the continuous area effect attacks from other MMO's, and if the nature is the same then you can bet that the damage goes up as distance decreases." Coper noted. "The only chance is to exploit the pulses, and time our attacks accordingly."

"I guess that means you're willing to be my shield?" Kirito asked.

"What choice do I have? I'm a survivor, not the kamikaze boss-killer." Coper sighed as he stepped in front of Kirito, taking out a pink crystal from his belt.

"Healing crystals?! When did they start having those for sale?" Kirito asked as he crouched down behind Coper's shield.

"Polaris has them on sale, only up to level 30 though. Man… you're losing your touch, are you sure you'll be OK?" Coper looked at Kirito in disbelief, as the two slowly inched towards the boss while withstanding its shockwave attack.

"Give me a break, I've been away from the front lines for a while…" Kirito said.

"What? Soul-searching? Or were get getting hunted down for being a beater?" Coper grinned, making fun of Kirito, as he prepared reached the limit.

"A bit of both…" Kirito replied. "Tell you about it later, along with the rest of the stuff that involves this quest. But first…"

"One last push, and it's up to you." Coper said, holding up the pink crystal. "HEAL!"

In an instant, Coper's red HP bar recovered to the maximum value, as he charged forwards. As Kirito followed Coper, he watched his HP fall quickly back into the yellow. Counting down inside, Kirito took a deep breath.

_I'll only get one shot, let's do it. _ Kirito thought as he stepped sideways out from behind Coper's shield, jumping upwards, once again Kirito felt the familiar sensation of [Sonic Leap] activating as his sword slashed down on the Gnome's face.

"Haaa!" Kirito yelled as he watched his HP drop into the yellow from the Gnome's attack, but his [Sonic Leap] still cut through, finally ending the Gnome's attack with a vertical attack to its face.

The Gnome let out a loud roar, but to Kirito's surprise the attack did not kill the Gnome. Swinging its arm, the Gnome's uppercut fist smashed into Kirito who was defenseless after activating his sword skill, disarming both of his blades and sending him flying upwards.

_Not good! _Noticing his HP had dropped to the red from that attack. Kirito brought his arms in front of his face, hoping to defend against the Gnome's next attack. Fortunately the deathblow did not occur, and Kirito let out a sigh of relief after he recovered from hitting the ground.

"Good work, and thanks for giving me the LA." Coper reached out his hand towards Kirito.

"Heh… don't mention it." Kirito replied as he got up, he wasn't obsessed about the LA bonus, but the way it happened made him feel like a fool.

Materializing a hammer in his hand, Coper tossed the LA bonus item to Kirito. "Take it, payment for saving my squad."

"Your squad?" Kirito asked, unsure as to why Coper referred to Kibaou's group as 'his squad'.

At that moment, one of the sub-leaders of the ALF group came forward and saluted to Coper.

"Sir, thank you for coming to our rescue!" The man who looked in his late twenties thanked Coper, gleaming respect showing from his eyes.

"At ease, it's my failure if I let you greenhorns get killed in something as trivial as this. The battle on Christmas Eve will be your real test, so don't you even think about getting killed before that." Coper relied, casually saluting the man.

"Sir!" The man responded with another salute, as he turned around and returned to the group. Kirito looked at Coper with amazement, as the brown-haired boy grinned slightly at Kirito.

"I just so happened to be the person that trained all of the players in the group, since a certain 'hero' decided to disappear to the highest levels right after the tutorial…"

"I know I'm not made to be a leader, that's why I'm a 'solo'." Kirito shrugged as he looked at Coper.

"Well, like it or not, you'll probably end up in the spotlight, for better or worse. Just make sure you don't do anything you'll regret later on. Now, I think it's time we finish this quest, and hopefully the invasion will be averted with this."

Kirito remained silent in response to Coper's comment, knowing that there was a good chance that the invasion would happen anyways. Debating whether he should tell Coper everything he knows, the two started walking back towards the main group.

"YOU AGAIN? SEE? You beaters are always there to steal the glory from those that truly deserve it." Kibaou's harsh words were the first to greet Kirito.

"Kibaou, we can have this discussion later. If it wasn't for Kirito here, we wouldn't have defeated the boss without a single death. You should be thanking him for saving you." Coper interrupted. "But that issue can be discussed later when all this is over. Right Diabel?"

Turning to the passageway that Coper arrived from, the group watched as the blue-haired player marched in with several dozen ALF players.

"Sorry for not making it on time, we had several interruptions on our way here. Is everyone OK?" Diabel greeted the group.

"Barely, but we made it, in no small part due to Kirito help." Coper noted Diabel's surprised expression, as he continued. "Hopefully that's all the fighting we'll need to do in order to complete the quest."

"Have you located the blue-prints and hidden stash of weapons?" Diabel asked.

"The weapons are down the hallway. I have retrieved the blueprints." A female voice replied, as the entire group turned towards the third passageway.

"... and who might you be?" Diabel asked the blonde twin-tailed girl.

"A companion I met along the way." Kirito answered for Fate. "I met her whilst in the lower levels trying to progress along the event quest."

"I understand, that would make things much easier. Kirito-san, would you be willing to give us the blueprints?" Diabel asked.

"The ALF can take what's in the treasure chests. I have the quest active as well, so I can submit it as well. If I'm not mistaken, the new weapons will be available on sale at [Starting City] the moment I submit the quest to the weapon's NPC." Kirito responded.

"Don't believe him, he's just trying to hoard all the weapons, I know how these beaters think." Kibaou's voice was the first to object, and Kirito simply ignored his complaints.

"Kibaou, at this point we can't waste time on internal conflicts. The most important thing is to return the blueprints to [Starting City] so we have access to the new weapons, and hopefully avert the invasion." Diabel said as he turned to Kirito. "Kirito-san, we won't object to you delivering the blueprints, but we do request that you return with our company. The players in [Starting City] could do with a morale boost, and this should be just the boost they need."

Kirito thought about Diabel's proposal, and didn't find anything wrong with it. Nodding his head, he agreed to the arrangement.

"Perfect, we will now quickly go through all the treasure chests, then we'll get ready to head back." Diabel replied with gratitude.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [16:00]**

**Location: [12th Floor – Polaris Outskirts – Frozen Graveyards]**

Keita gulped as he drew brought his staff up in a defensive position, feeling nervous as a hoard of creatures approached the Black Cats. Ducker had unknowingly sprung a trap, and Keita was once again unable to warn him before the trap activated.

_Why does this always happen? I'm a real failure as a leader_. Keita thought as he recalled the events leading up to the predicament.

**[Around Two Hours Ago]**

Arriving at the [Frozen Graveyards] a good hour away from Polaris, Keita's Black Cats and Klein's Fuurinkazan gathered at the entrance to the desolate field littered with tombstones.

"Well, this is the place." Klein announced as he sat on the floor. "How about we take a break?"

"Laid back as usual aren't you?" A voice echoed from inside the graveyard, as the faces of the group of girls became visible to the main group.

"What a coincidence, Argo… didn't expect to see you girls here." Klein replied. "Though I suppose I should also say 'as expected'."

"Likewise... so I guess the other site didn't show anything?" Argo asked the bandit-leader.

"Any luck finding the aforementioned tombstone?" Klein asked.

"We've walked around the area, and there seems to be roughly around 400 tombstones." Leafa was the one to answer Klein's question. "There doesn't seem to be anything that stands out, so we might have to check each stone one by one."

Klein and Keita looked at each other. With almost 20 people, it was possible to go from tomb to tomb, as long as they knew what to look for.

"Any clues to what the name should be?" Keita asked.

"If we are correct in our thinking, the 'Betrayer' refers to the 12th disciple of Jesus, Judas Iscariot. So we find his tombstone then we will know it's him." Leafa answered.

"However, according to the different interpretations of the scripture, it is possible that he might not have a tombstone at all." Before Keita could respond, Argo added to Leafa's explanation.

"I see. The interpretation of Akeldama fields, where Judas' bowels burst out as he burnt asunder." Keita nodded.

"Well, in either case we'll have to start by looking for the tombstone, so let's get to it. Keita, you want to grab the left side? I'll split my group to search the centre and right side." Klein suggested as everyone started to look for the tombstone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**[One Hour Later]**

Keita returned to the original meeting place, having completed his observations of the tombstones without results. He was greeted by his guildmates Tetsuo, Sasamaru and Sachi.

"Any luck? I found nothing on my side either." Keita's inquiry led to his guild shaking their head in reply.

"So I guess it's not on our side... we'll wait for Klein and the others and decide what to do next then." Keita said, sitting down on a large rock. "I must say that this quest is pretty difficult, even for a game like SAO. It's got pretty much everyone in the game involved, and even those who were hiding in [Starting City] are now forced to get out of their shells."

"I feel bad for all those people who are stuck in [Starting City]. They originally stayed in the city because they were scared, but now because of the event they're at risk of dying even if they stay in the city." Sachi said in a worried voice.

"Nothing we can do, they left us the burden of clearing while they stayed in the city. We can't be blamed no matter what happens." Sasamaru spoke with a tinge of resentment.

"Calm down, no need to get too worked up. The people that hid in the city aren't all bad people, they probably were just too scared to leave. Remember how we also needed a push to get started, perhaps this quest will make people feel the need to get out of that depressing city..." Tetsuo pat Sasamaru in the back, as he explained.

"Well, if all goes well, the invasion will be stopped. So let's do our best and save the city. As soon as Ducker gets back..." Keita grinned and started laughing alongside his friends.

Just as Keita expected, Ducker came running towards the group around five minutes later, but before the Black Cats could chide Ducker for his tardiness, he brought surprising news.

"Guys! I think I found the whereabouts of the tomb!" Ducker panted as he stopped running.

"You know, the game doesn't actually recreate the effect of running out of breath..." Tetsuo said. "So what did you find this time?"

"Give me a break... I'm still out of breath, even if it's just in my mind." Ducker took a deep breath, then stood completely upright and announced. "I found Judas' burial place!"

"Great job Ducker!" Keita congratulated his friend, giving him a high-five. "Now, let's meet up with Klein and Argo, so we can plan the next step."

"Eh?! Come on, let go and check out the grave first. It's been a long time since we got to work on the quest alone, it feels like we're working like slaves." Ducker complained.

"Everyone's in the same boat, including both the ALF and DDA. We should be glad that we're taking part in such an important event." Keita replied seriously.

"Still, it can't hurt for us to just scout the grave. I mean, I've done it alone already..."

"Yeah, come on Keita, let's at least have a look first." Sasamaru was the first to agree with Ducker.

Keita let out a sigh, it was always hard to get everyone to agree on the same thing. Though in the past years they always found something interesting as a result, but right now Keita was feeling nervous about heading off without support.

"What do you think, Tetsuo? Sachi?" Keita asked the remaining members for their opinion.

"Well... I think it would be safer if Klein and the others were here as well..." Sachi said in her usual timid voice.

"I think we should still be able to handle it." Tetsuo's opinion differed from Sachi.

"I suppose that makes it 3 to 2... What should we do then?" Keita asked.

"Nothing special, just follow me." Ducker seemed very eager to head back, and practically started dragging everyone else deeper into the field.

A cold chill went through Keita's spine as the Black Cats walked past the field, which got darker and damper as they went deeper. At the end of the field, Ducker motioned towards an opening in the thick bushes marking the border of the field.

"Just through the bushes…" Ducker said enthusiastically as he jumped over the twigs and branches.

"Wait… looks like it may be a trap." Keita responded, stopping Ducker before he went through.

"Nah… I already went there alone, and I'm still fine… didn't get killed or anything." Ducker countered.

"Still, we should come back with the others."

"Come on… We should be fine by ourselves, especially when our level is WAY beyond the safe range for this floor." Ducker complained, and surprisingly, it seemed that Tetsuo and Sasamaru were agreeing with Ducker.

"Fine…" Keita gave up, as he opened his message console. "but first let me at least send them a message."

"You sure are paranoid, but it's all good. No complaints about you being too safe." Tetsuo laughed as he and Ducker walked through the foliage.

"Guys, wait up…" Keita called at his two friends, as the rest of the Black Cats quickened their pace to catch up with their guildmates.

Arriving at a mound of mud, Keita looked down at the inscriptions on what appeared to be a worn down tombstone.

"It's hard to make out what it says, how did you know this is the one?" Keita asked Ducker.

"Oh, it's right here." Ducker walked past the mound, and pointed to a hole in the ground. "I saw a glitter, and buried in the ground was a pouch with 30 silver coins."

"I'm surprised you're that familiar with the scripture…" Keita responded in an impressed tone. "Wait… did you dig the hole?"

"Nope." Ducker replied.

"That's weird, it's almost as if the hole is there to lure us to take the coins…" Sachi muttered.

Just as Sachi was muttering to herself, Ducker reached down and grabbed the bag of silver coins, to the shock of the other members.

"Ducker! STOP!" Keita shouted, but he was too late to stop Ducker. The thief-character looked at Keita with a puzzled expression, as he lifted the bag of coins from the ground.

"What's wrong?" Ducker asked cluelessly.

"Uh… Ducker, you _really shouldn't_ have taken those coins from the dead you know…" This Tetsuo was the one to scold Ducker for his actions.

Not a moment too soon, the ground began to rumble, and as the Black Cats struggled to keep their balance several dozen creatures spawned from the ground.

"Great… we're surrounded… as usual..." Sasamaru let out a nervous laugh, as the Black Cats closed into a circle with their backs to each other. They've learnt from experience that it's dangerous to expose their backs to the mobs, and that this formation was the best they could do.

"Don't worry, we just need to hold out until reinforcements arrive." Keita said weakly, as he made a quick count of the mobs that were approaching the Black Cats.

"Be careful, the [Undead Corpses] are level 22, and the [Rotting Corpses] are level 23." Sachi warned as she parried the first attack from the corpses.

"That's too high for this floor! We haven't seen anything over L.20, including the field bosses…" Tetsuo started to panic, as his attack missed the target.

"Watch out!" Keita jumped in front of Tetsuo to block the mob attacking his opening, as Keita pushed the undead mob away with his staff.

"We've been through worse, so don't give up!" Sachi quickly maneuvered her position to fill the void left by Keita's move, as she raised her shield to defend from the mob's attack. Executing a [Horizontal], she pushed back the [Undead Corpse] as her sword left a red mark on its body.

"Let's get out of here!" Ducker wailed, as he frantically slashed his dagger through the air, he managed to land a hit on the [Rotting Corpse], but the attack that was not a sword skill did little to the opponent's HP.

All of a sudden, the rotting corpse opened its mouth, and a plume of acid erupted towards the thief user. Ducker held his hands in front of his face, and as the acid toughed the thief, a dull numbness took over the player.

"Crap! I can't move my hand… help me." Ducker cried out in panic, as he fell to the ground.

"Ducker!" Tetsuo rushed in to cover for Ducker, barely managing to fend off the [Rotting Corpse] which was about to follow up with another attack.

"Get up, quick!" Sasamaru dropped his weapon as he reached for Ducker, and pulling him up with his other arm. Unfortunately the act of doing so further reduced the Black Cat's defenses down to three people.

As the circle of mobs got smaller, a long-forgotten sense of fear assaulted the Black Cats.

_Is this the end of us? _Keita thought, as he struggled to keep the attacking mobs at bay.

Suddenly, Sachi dashed forwards away from the huddle Black Cats, charging in the direction of the exit.

"Follow me and RUN! I'll hold back the mobs while we push through." The girl charging desperately forwards, activating a [Horizontal] right after her charge. Her attack quickly drew the attention of the three mobs attack from the front, and Sachi quickly ducked down and parried the attack with her shield.

Something snapped inside Keita's mind, and before he knew it he had also charged forwards towards Sachi's direction, the remaining three members also followed as they barely avoided the corpses' attacks.

"Sachi, move back!" Keita shouted as he activated his [Smash] skill, lifting his staff high into the air and slammed it to the ground. The resulting shockwave blasted rocks and dirt towards the corpses, shattering the first mob and pushing away the remaining two that were about to attack Sachi.

"I won't let you sacrifice yourself, we'll survive together." Keita declared, but as he did he was hit with an [Acid] attack from the [Rotting Corpse]. Paralyzed, the staff-user lost his footing and fell to the floor.

"Keita!" Sachi cried, as she kneeled beside Keita and put up her shield. Holding a defensive position, she endured the mob's attacks with her shield as she passed a potion to Keita. However, as a result her HP quickly diminished under the flurry of attack, dropping her deep into the yellow territory.

"Keita! Sachi!" Tetsuo yelled as he and Sasamaru tried to reach Keita and Sachi, but they were unable to due to Ducker still being unable to use his weapon.

Even as Sachi watched her HP drop into the red zone, she held her shield up to protect her friend, who had yet to recover from the paralysis.

_I can't give up, not even until the last moment. _The girl said to herself, bearing the primal fear that assaulted her as each pixel of you HP was depleted.

As if to answer her determination, the corpses surrounding her suddenly burst into blue polygon. In front of her stood the figure of the blond-haired swordswoman, smiling as she offered Sachi her hand.

"Looks like we made it just in time." Leafa said, as she brought out a pink crystal and put it in front of Sachi. "HEAL!"

Sachi let out a sigh of relief as her HP bar returned to 100% in an instant, as she brought out an [Antidote] for Keita. By the time the two stood up, the field was clear of the corpses, wiped out by the Fuurinkazan.

"Geez… I never expected you guys to act so rashly." Argo complained as she walked to Keita. "You're glad that we weren't stuck with our own troubles."

"Sorry…" Keita lowered his head in shame, admitting the fact that he made a fatal judgmental flaw.

"Oh well… all's well that ends well. Nobody got hurt, and it looks like we found the tomb. Now what?" Klein's carefree voice quickly lightened the heavy mood that surrounded the players.

"Klein-san… I…" Keita wanted to say something, but was interrupted when Argo started her explanation.

"Now we need to find a way to prevent the 'Betrayer' from being resurrected, at least until Christmas day." Argo chirped. "Now we can get the ALF or DDA to send a group to guard this field, or we can do it ourselves. Either way, it's going to be guard duty for the next two days... nothing spectacular."

"WHAT?! After all our work, we're reassigned to guard duty? Give me a break…" Klein's overreacting brought about a round of laughter, as the sun began to set over the violet landscape.

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In the shadows of the foliage, a hooded player opened the quest notification window. He took several steps back into the forest, ensuring his detection warning level stayed well below 10%, as he opened the message:

[Quest Updates: Location of "Betrayer" found. Rewards – Healing Crystal (x1)

Next Objective: Resurrect "Betrayer" on Dec 24 (Rewards: ?) ]

The player under the hood let out an evil grin, as he closed his quest window. Gripping the hilt of his dagger, the player disappeared into the forest, leaving the Black Cats and Fuurinkazan unaware of his presence.

**Author's Notes:**

As mentioned, chapter notes will only reflect changes or related characters. The next full notes will be on Ch.80

**Character Level Update:**

**Diabel 29**

**Coper 28**

**Kibaou 27**

**Klein 29**

**Leafa 29**

**Sachi 27**

**Keita 26**

**Tetsuo 26**

**Ducker 25**

**Sasamaru 25**

**Avg. (Fuurinkazan) 25 **


	77. Calm Before the Storm

**Calm before the Storm**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe. Credits for insert characters and original characters go to their respective owners / right-holders._

Please refer to Chapter 2 for Notes on Character Stats and New Skills. (May contain late chapter spoilers)

**Date: [December 23, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [10:00]**

**Location: [1st Floor – Starting City – Outside Black Iron Palace]**

Kirito walked down the marble lined streets heading towards the ALF headquarters, dreading the awaited 'strategic meeting' between the players, in preparation for the invasion.

He had clarified the facts to the ALF shortly after returning from the hideout, but not before having to undergo the torture of the 'parade' of their triumphant success.

_Great… so instead of heading to the marketplace to check out the new weapons unlocked by the quest, I'm going to be stuck here with the leaders of the largest guilds. The reception yesterday definitely put me in the spotlight, what a nightmare… made me feel like I was a rare animal at an exhibit. Yup… solo is definitely the way to go…_

Whilst his mind was wandering while walking down to the Palace, Kirito's eye caught the figure of the girl that he was accompanying for the last while.

"Good morning, Kirito." The girl greeted Kirito as he walked towards her.

"Morning Fate, hope you had a good night's rest. Will you be joining me today for the meeting?" Kirito asked.

"I'm afraid I'll pass on the offer this time, several things happened last night, and I promised to help somebody this morning." The girl's reply surprised Kirito, as he didn't expect her to know anyone else in SAO.

"Did you find someone that you knew? That's great news!" Kirito exclaimed, but watching the girl's expression told him that his guess was incorrect.

"Not really, I just met her yesterday after you were dragged away from the ALF. I'll be assisting with the defense of citizens of the city during the raid, in the case that the enemy breaks through our defenses." Fate replied with an ambiguous smile, as she recalled the events that occurred after returning to [Starting City].

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**Date: [December 22, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [20:00]**

**Location: [1st Floor – Starting City]**

Quietly following the parade formed by the ALF, Fate was surprised at the amount of people that gathered to welcome the return of Kirito. Over a thousand people had gathered at the entrance of the city, waiting for the ALF group to return.

Pulling her hood over her head, Fate silently followed the ALF members. She did not wish to stand out too much, despite Kirito's suggestion that she should take the chance to see if anyone from the crowd recognized her.

As soon as the parade entered the gates, the blond haired girl quietly left the group that was gathering in the main arena, instead of heading to the market district. Now that Kirito was occupied for at least the rest of the day, Fate would have some time to arrange her thoughts while she explored the city.

After replenishing her supplies as Kirito had instructed, the blond haired girl sat down at a water fountain in the middle of the market plaza, materializing a 1 col [Black-Bread] and slowing eating it.

Her peaceful meal was abruptly cut short when a group of men approached her, each player was outfitted in armor that emitted a strong glow, and the group surrounded Fate as she put her bread down and looked up.

"Hey girl, you seem bored… wanna have some fun with us?" The leader of the group used a pick-up line that would probably make normal people cringe.

Luckily, Fate did not understand what the player meant, but she did not miss the malicious intent.

"No thank you, I'm fine as I am."

"Come on, we promise you a great time. We're elite gamers, so we'll be able to show you all the stuff that you can't do normally."

"Yeah, especially all the stuff you can do when you turn of ethics mode…" Another player let out a cackle, as he eyed the girl from head to toe.

Fate stood in silence as she considered her options to get out of the situation. Unfortunately none of the players had grabbed her yet, so she would be unable to activate the harassment protocol.

Before the girl could make up her mind whether to escape through force, assistance came in the form of a greeting from someone whom she never met.

"There you are! Sorry for make you wait!" A girl dressed in a frilly waitress outfit approached in a small jog, waiving her hand towards Fate.

Ignoring the group of men surrounding Fate, the girl walked up to Fate and grabbed her hands.

"Let's go, everybody's ready!" The girl with short hair exclaimed, as she started to lead Fate out of the circle surrounding them.

"Wait a minute, we're not done yet." The leader of the group held out her hand and stopped the two girls from walking away.

"Sorry, but we haven't got time to hang out with the '1337 Squad', maybe later." The girl smiled at the man. "Besides, if your guild-leader Trojan was here, he's probably recognize that it's not a good idea to antagonize our guild. Your chances with the girls will drop drastically if you do."

DBoss looked at the girl's guild icon, and frowned upon the realization that she was part of the largest female guild in the game.

"Che!" DBoss spat as he turned to his boys. "Let's go elsewhere, we'll find others who are worth the time."

As the 1337 Squad turned around and walked away, the leader of the Otome Alliance breathed a sigh of relief. Fate followed the girl into the café, and sat down silently at a table.

"Well… that was a stressful situation… glad it turned out OK. Oh! I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name's Mika, guild-leader of the Otome Alliance." Mika introduced herself with a smile, as another waitress put two cups of juice on the table.

"I'm Fate, nice to meet you, and thank you for your help." Fate bowed her head slightly, as she waited for Mika to continue.

"It's what we're here for... well at least that's what it's turning out to become. We have been having more and more issues with female players being harassed by male players, which I suppose can't be helped due to the population difference." Mika replied. "It's slightly better here at [Starting City] since many female players stayed behind, but at the same time these players are probably the weaker-willed ones..."

Fate nodded her head as Mika continued.

"Anyways, I guess I got carried away there. So what brings you to [Starting City], I never seen you before, and I'm pretty confident that I'd remember someone that stood out that much." Mika asked.

"Umm... I'm usually on the 8th floor, just coming by because of the news of the quest." Fate gave Mika the reply that Kirito had prepared, as she didn't want to cause any issues by revealing her memory loss.

"Oh, you mean the entire invasion and the addition of new weapons." Mika chimed in immediately. "The ALF just finished their triumphant return parade, it was quite a sight to behold, with the crowd lining the streets all the way to the Black Iron Palace. I wanted to go too, but the entrance area was crowded with people, so I gave up trying to find a front row seat. I just got news that the new weapons had appeared 10 minutes ago, so I'm sure people will be visiting the stores soon."

Finishing her drink, Mika stood up and held out her hand.

"I'm guessing that you're interested in the new items, so how about we pay the weapon's NPC a visit." Mika asked cheerfully.

"Will it be any trouble for you? I don't want to have you leave your work right now." Fate responded.

"Don't worry, I'll have Cocoa here cover for me." Mika said in a carefree voice, as the timid girl behind the counter widened her eyes in surprise.

"Mika-san, but I don't know how to talk to customers... oh no!" The girl named Cocoa complained, dropping a dish onto the floor.

"Don't worry, just be natural and you'll be fine. Besides, the dinner rush is over."

"Who's going to deliver the food to the church?"

"I'll be doing it on the way, it's all ready right? I'll be going now..." Mika skipped to the counter and lifted a large box filled with food, which vanished into her inventory. Walking back to Fate, Mika smiled.

"Well, guess we'll be going on a short detour. So shall we?"

"Thank you, I'll be in your care." Fate got up from her seat and replied with a smile, and Mika was quick to grab Fate's hand. Almost dragging Fate to the door, the two left the café as Cocoa let out a sigh.

"Have a safe trip..."

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Fate was rather surprised at the speed Mika led her through [Starting City], often going through dark alleyways and narrow streets to avoid the crowd, and arriving at the weapon's NPC in less than half the time it took Fate.

"Well, here we are... I'm sure you knew where the weapon's NPC was, but your expression tells me that you didn't know about these shortcuts." Mika said in a proud voice. "Oh, and if you talk to the store owner about his daughter, it'll give you an extra 10% discount."

Fate followed Mika's instructions, and sure enough, the price of the items dropped 10% further than the original amount. Remembering Kirito's advice of not revealing her weapons, she purchased an [Alloy Steel Greatsword], as well as several potions.

"Make sure you buy a healing crystal if you can afford it, it can save your life. If possible try to buy the one for level 30 and below, that way you won't level out of its usage range." Mika reminded, bringing Fate to the attention to the expensive crystals.

After completing the purchase, the two walked down the market streets, past the living district and down a forest path within the city.

"It's so tranquil here..." Fate exclaimed, as the two walked down the path.

"Well... it's not going to stay that way... within 60 seconds you'll probably need to cover your ears..." Mika grinned as the two arrived at the church.

As Mika predicted, the moment the two stepped through the church door, the sound of children yelling and shouting echoed between the walls.

"Ah! It's Mika-nee!" A young boy shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Who's the girl beside her? Pretty..."

"Wait up! Don't push!"

"Someone call Sasha!"

Within 15 seconds, Mika and Fate were surrounded by a couple dozen children and their screams and shouts.

"EVERYBODY STOP THIS MOMENT!" A woman in her twenties, donning glasses and wearing a sister gown, walked quickly down the aisle of the church. Pushing aside the children gently, the woman bowed to Fate and Mika.

"I'm sorry for their misbehavior again, Mika-san. Thanks for always coming to help us out." The woman then turned to Fate and smiled. "My name's Sasha, the caregiver to these children. Nice to meet you."

"No problem Sasha-san, we're glad to be able to help you out, especially after all you've done to keep the children safe." Mika started talking to Sasha after Fate returned her greeting. "Now how about we start setting up the food?"

Walking into what appeared to be a kitchen, the three girls started unpacking the package from the diners, which turned out to be a massive feast of food. As the food was being prepared, the group of children stood obediently sat down at the benches, eagerly looking over at the kitchen. As the three put the food onto the table, the noise level erupted as the children started scrambling for the food. Smiling at the scene, the three girls exited the dining area and returned to the main cathedral.

"Sorry for the children being so rowdy, it's not often that they get to see a new face." Sasha apologized to Fate.

"I'd say it's not fair, the kids didn't have that kind of reaction when I first came here. I remember most of them were hiding behind your back." Mika complained.

"They've come a long way over the weeks, but they're still children. I'm thankful for all the help you've been giving us, especially during the last week where everyone's been in high tension." Sasha replied.

"Mika-san, are all these children…?" Fate's question was answered before she finished her question.

"Yes, they entered the game without their parents, so in a way they're orphans in SAO. Most of the children are under 12 here, so it's impossible for them to live by themselves." Sasha answered with a sad smile. "It was fortunate that this church does not have any fees associated, so naturally I ended up living here with the children. Things started going downhill though, when my money reserves started to go down. With the daily col allowance, it was becoming very difficult to keep everyone well fed. Luckily I bumped into Mika when everything started to look really grim. But I suppose today we have another hurdle to overcome."

"I'm sorry Sasha-san, but it looks like the case. I've spoken to both the ALF and DDA, and they didn't have enough players to spare a group to protect the church." Mika apologized. "In the worst case scenario we will have to relocate the children to another floor, we'll prepare tomorrow night, and on the morning of the 24th you'll be relocating temporarily to the 12th floor."

"It'll be pretty hard for the children, especially when they've just finally gotten used to the idea of having a 'home'…" Sasha sighed, "Is there no other way? Maybe even just have us lock the doors and stay inside?"

"If the defense falls, there is a good chance that mobs will roam the streets, and in the worst case scenario we might have to abandon [Starting City]. If that happens, the children will be stuck here with no way to escape." Mika replied in a serious tone.

"I understand, but even if the children agree, it will be hard to relocate them all at once. We've finally obtained enough furniture for everyone, and there's no way that I can move everything in a day with my limited weight capacity."

"Which is why we will start preparations early tomorrow. We can start moving all our belongings, and maybe the younger children that are willing to move. It'll still take time so we'll probably spend the majority of the day."

"How about your practice? Weren't you planning to perform for the Christmas concert?" Sasha's question caused a momentary frown to appear on Mika's face, but she soon switched to a cheerful smile.

"Don't worry, we'll somehow manage." Mika's reply did not fool Sasha, and the nun lowered her head.

"I'm sorry…" Sasha's muttered, but her voice was silenced by the other girl who had remained silent up to this point.

"Mika-san, Sasha-san, would you mind if I helped out? I have been wanting to visit the 12th floor for some time, but I don't have anyone that I know to guide me around." Fate broke the silence, as the two other girls looked at her.

"Are you sure? I don't want to trouble you, especially when we've just met." Sasha asked in surprise.

"If you trust in me, I'd like to be able to help." Fate replied.

"Well, that's settled then. Sasha-san, I'll try to get a few other people to help out Fate-chan. I'll see if I can free up some time as well." Mika winked at the other two. "Now, let's go back, the kids are probably waiting for us now."

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**Date: [December 23, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [11:00]**

**Location: [1st Floor – Starting City –Black Iron Palace Conference Room]**

Kirito tried to be discreet as he let out a yawn, listening to the ALF and DDA leaders discuss the plans for the invasion. It wasn't that he disliked any of the leading players… (apart from a certain individual, most of the players were more or less agreeable.), however Kirito disliked the notion of joining a strategic meeting that he wouldn't be participating in.

"Lynd-san, we had agreed earlier to have Kibaou lead a group of ALF players to assist you." Diabel's protest brought Kirito's attention back to the meeting that was underway.

"However, the circumstance have changed now that we no longer need to search for the 'Betrayer's location, as that information is not publically known. It would be beneficial to have Kibaou's group prevent stray player groups from attempting to confront the event boss." Lynd countered.

"You're just trying to hog the boss mob to yourself." Kibaou lashed out, slamming the table as he got up. "Besides, you're going to have to bring that beater with you, so you might as well consider the LA bonus as lost."

Kirito let out a sigh at the mention of the word 'beater', as it was sure to bring more turmoil into the conversation. While he didn't really care for Kibaou's perception of himself, he did not like the fact that his 'beater status' was constantly brought up.

"Kibaou, may I remind you that Diabel's also a beater, as are many other players. Please refrain from using such terms." Thinker, who had remained in silence throughout, spoke in a soft but firm voice, preventing Kibaou from continuing his spiel.

At this time, the doors to the conference room opened, and everyone in the meeting room mentally thanked Thinker for shutting Kibaou's mouth.

"Pardon our late arrival." Lancel bowed as he walked into the meeting room with Asuna. Asuna on the other hand marched straight to the meeting, materialized a stack of papers, and slammed it on the table.

"There! The plans that you requested. The initial formation of the defense groups, the arrangements of the attack and ambush groups, the shift rotation of the support groups, as well as three contingency plans in case a group falls under heavy attack." Asuna reported in a triumphant voice.

Kirito let out a gulp as his gaze met Asuna's, as the chestnut haired-girl turned towards him. He felt something was off with the girl, as if she was strained, amused, and angry at the same time.

"Ah, if it isn't Kirito-kun? Nice of you to return from your dillydallying in the lower levels. While you've been off exploring and enjoying yourself, we've been working overtime to prevent everyone getting killed in the invasion." Asuna said in a sarcastic voice.

Before Kirito could react, a raspy voice responded to Asuna's accusation.

"Don't blame Kii-bou too much here… he was the first one to find out about the invasion… besides, he probably wouldn't have been much help even if he stayed in [Starting City]"

Everyone looked around in surprise, to see Argo standing in a dark corner of the room.

"Anyways…" Argo continued. "The new weapons have been added to the weapons' NPC at all available floors. However, the weapon's quest does not seem to cancel out the invasion, so players will have a chance at trying out the new weapons in combat… though I would not recommend it. I'm sure Asuna's already taken into account that we now have access to the 'bow' though. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll see you around."

Argo drew something from her belt and activated it, a shroud of black mist filled the room instantly, and disappeared as soon as it occurred. However, by the time vision was restored, Argo was already nowhere to be seen.

_Mental note to ask her where she got that… _Kirito grinned as he looked at the pillar beside the entrance, nodding his head as he met Argo's eyes. The rat had activated her [Hiding] skill to remain hidden, but her camouflage was not yet a match for Kirito's [Searching] skill

"Yes… ahem…" Asuna let out a cough as she brought everyone's attention back to the meeting. "As far as I can tell at the moment, the bow can only be used for a single arrow shot. There may be a unique condition that one must meet in order to activate the [Skills] for this weapon. However, even with a single shot, with enough players we can mount an effective defensive using our terrain advantage."

"Is it possible that your proficiency just isn't at the point of activating skills?" Lynd asked.

"Perhaps, but I also had several ALF volunteers training since the weapons were available last night. I can confirm that at '200/1000' proficiency, the bow is still a single shot item." Asuna stated. "Unfortunately the said members are now sleeping after pulling the all-nighter, so you'll have to take my word on it."

"Very well…" Lynd spoke as he tried to suppress the shock in his voice, having a player repeatedly train a skill for an entire night was pretty excessive, even under a scenario like this.

"The rest of the details are in the report, I'm sure you guys can handle it." Asuna's suddenly took on a weary expression as she concluded her report. "Now, you don't mind if I borrow Kirito-kun to escort me back, I'd like to get some sleep myself."

Kirito didn't miss the opportunity to escape the meeting, as he quickly got up and walked towards Asuna. Bowing to Thinker and Lynd, Kirito followed Asuna out of the meeting room, as Lancel closed the door behind him.

"Kirito-san, Asuna-san's really tired, we'll leave her in your care." Lancel whispered to Kirito as the door closed.

"Ah… now that that's done…" Asuna sighed a breath of relief, and suddenly the rapier that she was holding dropped to the ground.

"Asuna-san?" Kirito didn't finish his question before he noticed that the girl was falling to the ground. Quickly grabbing her shoulders, Kirito managed to stop Asuna before she hit the floor.

"I'm fine, I didn't need you to hold me up…" Asuna complained. "But I'll accept your escorting me back to my room… and welcome back…"

Kirito smiled inwardly as Asuna's voice diminished into a whisper, as he followed Asuna back to the living quarters where Asuna rented her room.

After Asuna returned to her room to sleep, Kirito walked towards the market district towards his original destination – the weapon's NPC, in order to view the new weapons available to the players.

There was little surprise as to what new weapons were introduced, as many were extensions of the original weapons available at launch. While he was surprised that those weapons were not tested during the beta, implementation of new weapons required minimal testing and would not require an entire beta testing phase.

Out of curiosity, Kirito purchased the [Bow], a weapon that stood out like a sore thumb in SAO. Kayaba's original design put much focus into melee combat, and it was weird that the [Bow] would be accessible to players.

_I wonder if this weapon was brought out specifically for this invasion? Under the current SAO system the bow would be useless apart from luring and stationary defense… unless the game has been changed to a point where invasions constantly occur…_

Opening the bow's status menu, Kirito noted the stats of the basic [Alloy Steel Bow].

_I see, so for a weapon of its level range, the bow does have a pretty high single ATK attribute. This is primarily due to its long cool-down factor, with a need to manually reload the arrow._

Walking to the nearest exit, Kirito picked the first mob in the field and aimed his bow towards the target.

_Hmm… the bow has the feature of 'Manual Aiming', no doubt for advanced players to aim for critical damage… but first let me try the 'Auto Aim' mode… let's see, the range is 20m…_

Kirito pulled the arrow back, and waited for the glow to encompass the arrow. Letting go of the arrow, he watched the arrow soar through the air and hit the target. Grabbing the next arrow from his belt, Kirito was putting the arrow onto his bow when he realized that the mob had closed in. Dropping his bow and arrow, Kirito rolled sideways to dodge the mob, as he manipulated his menus to equip his sword.

_Well that's pretty useless… though I guess certain players might be able to dodge the mob while maintaining the attack… it would take a pretty competent player to pull it off though. Now, let's see one more thing…_

Dispatching the first [Frenzied Boar] with his sword, Kirito stabbed his sword into the ground as returned to the bow and picked it up. Instead of loading an arrow, Kirito threw a rock at the mob and waited for the mob to charge towards him, parrying its attack by putting the bow sideways.

_Ugh! The attack was heavier than I thought… but with this…_

Putting the arrow onto the bow, Kirito pulled the arrow which started glowing blue, and released it point-blank into the mob. The shot sent the mob backwards, causing the mob to roll on the floor, with a 'stun' icon appearing on its HP bar.

_Well… that was effective… but still…_

Kirito pulled his sword as he dashed forwards, and with a downwards [Slant] he slashed the mob into oblivion.

_The sword is still much better… _Kirito concluded, putting his curiosity to rest for the time being. A grin appeared on the boy's face as he turned around and walked back towards the city.

_Now… since I have time, might as well try out the other weapons… _

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**Date: [December 23, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [16:00]**

**Location: [12th Floor – Polaris Outskirts – Frozen Graveyards]**

Leafa sat on a rock, bored after taking out countless [Wandering Corpses] during the guard shift assigned by the ALF. In the background, Klein and his guild were still actively fighting the local mobs.

"Oh YEAH! I broke the big three! Level 30 here I am!" Klein exclaimed, surrounded by his admiring guild-mates.

Leafa looked at her own level in the status window, which had recently turned to 29. She had almost forgotten her initial goal to find her brother, and before she realized she was amongst the top players in the game.

"Leafa-chan, do you need these healing crystals? I can't use them anymore…" Klein held out a handful of healing crystals to Leafa.

"It's OK, I'll outgrow these next level as well, might as well give them to your guildmates. Actually… take mine as well… I'll keep one as a spare." Leafa responded, materializing two pink crystals and passing it to Klein.

"Well, in that case, we'll hand them to Nezha and the guys." Klein remarked, as he put the crystals back in his inventory. "They should be coming back soon, it's about time to switch the watch."

Klein did not have to wait long, as within 15 minutes the footsteps of a large group of people echoed in the graveyard. A full raid group consisting of DDA players walked up to Klein's guild, led by Vendette and Aixen. The two leaders of the group nodded to Klein and his companions, and announced their takeover.

"Good work, the DDA will take over from this point onwards." Vendette informed Klein, then turned around and started issuing orders to his men.

"Will do. So when do you guys want us to return and shift watches with you?" Klein asked, as he sheathed his curved blade. "We can come back immediately after we've checked out the new weapons and given them a try."

"That will not be necessary, it has been decided that this location will be guarded by the DDA. Your assistance will no longer be necessary." The cold reply surprised Klein, however he still maintained his smile.

"Are you sure? We know the DDA is very capable, but it doesn't hurt to have extra help." Klein's response was cut short as Aixen walked up to Klein with an intimidating demeanor.

"We will handle it." Aixen stated, as he looked Klein in the eyes.

"Alright, you don't need to be so uptight about it." Klein shrugged his shoulders as he turned around to his guild. "You heard the man, we're not needed anymore, let's head home and get some shut-eye… We'll talk to Lynd about this later."

"Very well." Vendette nodded his head, then turned his attention back to his guild.

_What's with him? Did something happen during the meeting? _Klein thought as he gathered his companions and returned to Polaris.

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**Date: [December 23, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [11:30]**

**Location: [1st Floor – Starting City –Black Iron Palace Conference Room]**

As the meeting room doors after Kirito and Asuna left, the tone of the meeting took on a much more serious tone.

"Lynd-san, I understand that your presence here today isn't just to go through the defense plans." Thinker was the first to break the silence, as he faced the DDA leader.

"As expected, nothing goes unnoticed by you." Lynd frowned as he took a sip of the drink placed in front of him. "In that case I'll get straight to the point, I'm slightly concerned about the extent that we're utilizing the 'help' of the third group. I understand we are under exceptional circumstances, but at this rate once the event ends we'll be losing a considerable amount of support and maybe even guild members."

"Lynd-san, I understand your desire to keep your guild as strong as possible, but at this time we need to prioritize the survivability of the players. At this point we require Kirito to complete the quest conditions, so there's no way to exclude him. Besides, at this point Kirito's still a solo and unlikely to form a guild of his own. It's actually beneficial to have them rally the remaining players, so that eventually they may be convinced to join a larger guild such as your DDA or our ALF." Thinker replied.

"That's where my thoughts diverge from yours. Players are less likely to join our guilds if they see an alternative, and even less so if they see that individual solo players can contribute to the game as well as our guilds are able to. I'm afraid that if this continues, we'll have to face situations where we will have to fight for the right to participate in floor clearings." Lynd's argued.

"So, in the end, you're just concerned that the DDA will lose out on the LA bonuses for the floor clearings." Kibaou interrupted, before Diabel or Thinker could prevent him.

"I will not say that I am not concerned, but the major issue is that our floor raids will lack unity." Lynd's response was surprisingly civil, perhaps he too had been numbed by the frequency of Kibaou's rude remarks.

"I understand Lynd-san, but as of right now let's leave things where they stand. We'll sort things out once this event is done, and everything's returned to its normal course." Diabel suggested.

"I'll take your word then, Diabel-san."

"Knight's honor."

"Very well, but I won't compromise on tomorrow's raid. The player Kirito will be accompanied only by DDA members, in return we will assist in the ALF's defenses that are less favorable."

Upon hearing Lynd's demands, Diabel looked to Thinker, who nodded his head after a brief pause.

"Agreed, we wish you the best of luck then." Thinker replied.

"But Thinker! The LA on the event boss." Kibaou protested loudly.

"If the boss is defeated at the [Frozen Graveyards], we will forfeit the LA to the DDA. If you wish to be on guard outside the premises, I permit you to lead a party of 11 men to act as backup. I believe that is acceptable, Lynd-san?" Thinker quickly responded to Kibaou's complaining, directing a question to Lynd.

"Hmph. Very well, if you wish to waste your men on meaningless guard duty. We will be stationed at the [Graveyard] starting at 23:00 tonight, the ALF shall not be permitted to join in the boss raid unless instructed by a DDA leader, or unless the boss exits the graveyard grounds." Lynd got up from his seat. "May the strong be awarded."

Thinker and Diabel bowed lightly as Lynd exited the conference room, and dismissed the rest of the ALF members soon after.

"It would seem that our plans of an alliance are further than we thought." Diabel let out a sigh.

"Perhaps an alliance was a foolish idea to begin with…" Thinker suggested. "Though I was hoping that we would be able to work towards a common interest. However as long as we don't engage in meaningless competition, the end result will still be beneficial."

"Should we turn out attention to appealing to the others?"

"Perhaps, if we pursue that route we will inevitably clash with the DDA though, so we must weigh our priorities carefully. Right now, it is most important for us to protect [Starting City], that is the first step to obtain the players' acknowldgement."

"Hopefully the DDA can defeat the boss… but it's unlikely… Kayaba wouldn't allow for such a simple scenario."

"In that case all we can do is to strengthen our defenses. I leave the commanding of the troops to you, Diabel."

"I'll have them ready by sunset."

"Let's hope everything goes well and we can have a peaceful Christmas celebration…" Thinker whispered to himself, as he and Diabel went to direct the ALF members.

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**Date: [December 23, 2022]**

**Aincrad Standard Time: [23:55]**

**Location: [1****st**** Floor – Medai Outskirts – Unmarked Location]**

Underneath the starless sky, a hooded figure walked quickly through the forest, make sure that he was not being trailed by any other player.

Occasionally looking up to confirm his 100% stealth status, the man grinned as he approached his destination on his minimap.

What waited for the man was not another player, but a group of NPC's, specifically a group of Dark Elves, all of whom were emitting a dark shadow.

"HALT!" A Dark Elf drew his sword and stopped the man, as a question mark appeared on top of its head.

Grinning wickedly, the man calmly materialized a piece of parchment, passing it to the Dark Elf. The Dark Elf's eyes widened for a short moment, but quickly resumed his composure.

"I have received the order, messenger of Darkness. We shall commence the invasion on the 24th. Please give the command to begin when conditions are met."

The hooded player looked to his status screen, noting that the clock showed 23:59.

_Let's see if this works… it's sure to give those cowardly yellows a surprise… something that they won't forget… the burning ruins of [Starting City]…_

"By order of Darkness, I command you to begin." The man ordered the Dark Elf, and the question mark became an exclamation mark.

"Troops, we will now march on the human foothold. We shall raze [Starting City], and rid our lands of the scum that has infested our lands." The Dark Elf was replied with a thunderous roar, as suddenly countless mobs materialized on the field.

Retreating back into the shadows, the hooded player that initiated the invasion smiled as he acknowledged the 'Quest Updated' status. Grinning, he turned to his next destination, the grave of the 'Betrayer', as he declared the beginning of the end.

"... IT'S SHOWTIME!"


End file.
